Na Kyung-won

Early life and education

Na was born on December 6, 1963, in Seoul, South Korea. She graduated from Seoul National University with a bachelor's and a master's degree in law, and completed a doctoral program in international law at the same university.

Career

In 1995, Na became a judge for administrative courts of South Korea. She started her political career as a special aide for women's affairs to Lee Hoi-chang for the 2002 presidential election. She was one of two candidates of the October 2011 Seoul mayoral by-election after Oh Se-hoon resigned his position as mayor, but lost the election to Park Won-soon.

Na did not run in the 2012 legislative election due to allegations that her husband Kim Jae-ho was involved in a clandestine deal with a prosecutor from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. She subsequently ran as a candidate for Dongjak B in a July 2014 by-election, and beat the Justice Party's Roh Hoe-chan by 929 votes.

Outside of politics, Na began working in sports in 2005. She became the president of Special Olympics Korea in 2005 and the Korean Wheelchair Rugby Association in 2006. In 2009, Na was selected to the Korean Paralympic Committee and elected vice president of the KPC in 2013. Also in 2013, Na was named onto the International Paralympic Committee and reelected in 2017.

In December 2018, Na was elected parliamentary floor leader of the main opposition party., the first woman in the country to hold this position. In February 2019, she warned that if the US could not get North Korea to denuclearize, Seoul would probably order more nuclear weaponry to level up to its northern counterpart.

She lost her Dongjak B seat to Lee Soo-jin in the 2020 legislative election. On 13 January 2021, she announced to run for Mayor of Seoul in the 2021 South Korean by-elections but lost to Oh Se-hoon in the primaries.

In 2025, Na declared her candidacy for the 2025 South Korean presidential election, but lost in the primaries held by the People Power Party.

Controversies

On September 26, 2011, Na Kyung-won visited a facility related to the severely disabled and was criticized socially for taking off the clothes of a severely disabled teenager and bathing naked in front of reporters. Human rights groups for the disabled also criticized Na Kyung-won.

On 15 April 2019, during a protest, progressive college students occupied the office of Na Kyung-won.

In September 2019, it was reported by local media that Na's son had allegedly received preferential treatment while in high school after he was listed as the first author in a paper's research summary. The paper was subsequently presented at a medical engineering conference at Seoul National University. Na stated that she finds the allegations "regrettable" and that her son "conducted the experiments himself and wrote about it."

Personal life

Na Kyung-won is married to judge Kim Jae-ho and they have two children. Their daughter has Down syndrome.

References

References

1. link
2. link. (11 April 2024)
3. Jo He-rim. (11 December 2018). "[Newsmaker] Na Kyung-won elected main opposition party floor leader".
4. "Kyung-won Na".
5. Jeong-mi. Lee. (2011-10-11). link. [[Voice of the People (South Korea). Voice of the People]]
6. Lee, Tae-hoon. (September 23, 2011). "Na joins mayoral race". [[The Korea Times]].
7. Ahn, Christine. (January 6, 2012). "A Korean Spring?". Eurasia Review.
8. Song, Sang-ho. (2012-03-08). "Saenuri Party's Na not to run in April elections". [[The Korea Herald]].
9. Kang, Jin-kyu. (2014-07-31). "Saenuri achieving landslide victory". [[Korea JoongAng Daily]].
10. (17 March 2017). "Na elected to Int'l Paralympic Committee board". [[The Korea Times]].
11. (12 December 2018). "LKP elects Na Kyung-won as its first female floor leader".
12. Youkyung Lee. (1 February 2019). "South Korea Opposition Leader Sees Danger in Weak Nukes Deal".
13. (September 5, 2018). "Former PPP Floor Leader Na Kyung-won Unveils Bid for Seoul Mayor".
14. (2025-04-11). "Five-term lawmaker Na declares presidential bid".
15. (22 April 2025). "Ahn joins final four: PPP confirms lineup for second-round primary". Korea Times.
16. link. [[OhmyNews]]. (29 September 2011)
17. link. [[Korean Broadcasting System. KBS NEWS]]. (28 September 2011)
18. (15 April 2019). "Police seek arrest of 2 of the 22 protesters who forcibly occupied".
19. (11 September 2019). "South Korea's 'privileged' politicians scrutinized after Moon aide appointment".
20. link. (20 April 2024)