Yang Yiwonyoung or Yang Yi Wonyoung (; born 14 May 1971) is a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

currently serving as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

member of National Assembly. Before entering politics, Yang has dedicated her career in civil societies - specifically environment movements. She has worked at Korea Federation for Environmental Movements for over a decade. She also led civil movements calling for nuclear free societies and transition to green(er) energy. In the 2020 general election, she was recruited by and joined

Platform Party The Platform Party () was a political party and an electoral alliance under the Democratic Party in South Korea formed in 2020 in order to run for party-list proportional representation in 2020 South Korean legislative election. History The ...

after the party launched their version of the

Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...

. After the election, Platform Party and its sister party,

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, merged as planned which resulted in her becoming a member of the party she previously criticised for "its lack of green initiatives and pro-nuclear energy stances." She legally changed her name to Yang Yiwonyoung (Yang as last name and the rest as given name) to reflect both of her parents' last names in her name in May 2020. Her previous legal name, Yang Wonyoung, had her dad's last name, Yang, but not her mom's last name, Yi, like most Koreans. However, she has been using "Yang Yi Wonyoung" as her name even before the court confirmed her name change, which is standard procedure for any type of name change. She is the first parliamentarian in Korea to have and use their name which has both of their parents' last names during their terms . On 8 June 2021, Yang Yiwonyoung was kicked out of the

for violating real estate and land speculation laws during the LH Scandal which rocked the ruling

. If the Party rules that she is expelled, then she will be able to keep her seat as an independent lawmaker. However, if she voluntarily leaves the Party, then she will lose her seat as a lawmaker elected under proportional representation. Yang Yi maintains her innocence and is fully complying with a government audit. Yang was readmitted to the Democratic Party on 8 October 2021 after being cleared of all charges. Yang holds three degrees - a bachelor in biology from

Sogang University Sogang University (SU, Hangul: 서강대학교 Hanja: 西江大學校, literally "West River University") is one of the most prestigious private research universities in Seoul, South Korea. It was established in 1960 by the Wisconsin Province of ...

, a

MPP MPP or M.P.P. may refer to: * Marginal physical product * Master of Public Policy, an academic degree * Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Canada * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape), South Africa * ''Merriweather Post Pavilio ...

from KDI School of Public Policy and Management and

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Yiwonyoung Sogang University alumni Living people 1971 births Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Minjoo Party of Korea politicians Female members of the National Assembly (South Korea)