Min Byung-doo (; born 10 June 1958) is a South Korean politician in the liberal
Minjoo Party of Korea
The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK; ), formerly known as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), is a liberal political party in South Korea. Controlling the unicameral National Assembly as of 2022, the DPK is regarded as one of two m ...
who has been a member of the
National Assembly for
Dongdaemun,
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
, from 2012 to 2020. He was formerly a
party list member from 2004 to 2008.
Min is a proponent of
economic democratization.
In early 2013 he announced plans to introduce legislation to protect fair contracts between convenience store franchisors and their franchisees. Later that year, during an industrial dispute that led to K-pop group
JYJ being blacklisted from major broadcasting stations, Min introduced a motion to call JYJ to testify before the National Assembly along with the founder of their former record label
S.M. Entertainment,
Lee Soo-man
Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational South Korean entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred ...
, and the president of the Korean Federation of Pop Culture and Art Industry, Yang Yi-sik. He criticized "large entertainment companies" for "using their influence to reign over broadcasting companies and singers".
In 2014, Min criticized civic groups involved in leaflet propaganda campaigns in North Korea for receiving public funding from the Prime Minister's Office. The director of the Union for North Korea Freedom, Kim Min-su, stated in response that the information was misleading, and that Min was either "not a decent person, or incompetent".
As a student in 1981, Min was handed a 20-year prison sentence for his participation in a militant pro-democracy student organization, the National Democratic Students' League.
, who would later become chairman of the
Saenuri Party, participated in Min's trial as an associate judge.
The conviction was formally quashed in 2012.
Min was arrested in connection to another organization, the "Constituent Assembly", in 1986. He eventually graduated from
Sungkyunkwan University
Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU or simply ''Seongdae'', Hangul: 성균관대학교; Hanja: 成均館大學校) is a private comprehensive research university in South Korea. The institution traces its origins to the historic Sungkyunkwan, found ...
in 1990; the university later selected him for an alumni award in 2016.
Min was born in
Hoengseong County,
Gangwon. A
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
, he received the baptismal name
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...
.
References
1958 births
Living people
Members of the National Assembly (South Korea)
Minjoo Party of Korea politicians
People from Hoengseong County
South Korean democracy activists
Sungkyunkwan University alumni
Yeoheung Min clan
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