Chung Woon-chun

Chung Woon-chun (Korean: 정운천, born 10 April 1954) is a South Korean farmer, businessman and politician who served as one of co-Presidents of the defunct New Conservative Party. He was also a Member of National Assembly for Jeonju 2nd constituency from 2016 to 2020. He was one of rare conservative MPs in Honam. Prior to his MP career, he briefly served as the Minister of Agriculture, Fishery, and Food under the President Lee Myung-bak.

In this Korean name, the family name is Chung.
The Honourable
Chung Woon-chun
MP
정운천
President of the New Conservative Party
In office
5 January 2020 – 14 February 2020
Serving with:
Ha Tae-keung
Oh Shin-hwan
Yoo Ui-dong
Ji Sang-wook
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Member of the National Assembly
Assumed office
30 May 2020
ConstituencyProportional
In office
30 May 2016 – 29 May 2020
Preceded byLee Sang-jik (as Wansan 2nd)
Succeeded byLee Sang-jik
ConstituencyJeonju 2nd
Minister of Agriculture, Fishery, and Food
In office
29 February 2008 – 6 August 2008
Preceded byLim Sang-kyu (as the Minister of Agriculture)
Succeeded byChang Tae-pyung
Personal details
Born (1954-04-10) 10 April 1954
Gochang, North Jeolla, South Korea
CitizenshipSouth Korean
Political partyPPP
Other political
affiliations		GNP (2010-2012)
Saenuri (2012-2016)
Bareun (2017-2018)
Bareunmirae (2018-2020)
NCP (2020)
FKP (2020)
UFP (2020)
SpouseChoi Kyung-sun
ChildrenChung Yong-hoon
Chung Da-eun
Alma materKorea University
OccupationFarmer, businessman, politician

Career

Born in Gochang, Chung moved to Iksan and attended to Namsung High School.[1][2] After he earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Korea University, he built polytunnels in Haenam to cultivate New Zealand kiwis.[1][3] He named the kiwis as Chamdarae,[2] and the business was successful,[1] despite of several crises — Typhoon Thelma in 1987,[3] market liberalisation in 1989,[3] and warehouse fire in 1999.[4] This career gave him a nickname, "Lee Kun-hee of agricultural industry".[1][2][3] Though his success was later even mentioned in several textbooks,[1][2] a former Democratic Labour MP Kang Ki-kap criticised that Chung's business was operated with government grants.[5]

Political career

In 2005, Chung shortly worked under the President Roh Moo-hyun. Shortly after Lee Myung-bak was elected as the new President, Chung was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture, Fishery, and Food.[2] He took a key role of the US beef imports, which sparked several controversies.[6] 3 opposition parties — the United Democratic Party (UDP), the Democratic Labour Party (DLP), and the Party for Freedom and Advancement (PFA), suggested a motion of no-confidence against him.[7] He barely survived,[8] but shortly after a nationwide protest was sparked, in which led him to be sacked from the position.[9]

Following his dismissal, Chung wrote a book Tangy (撲鼻香, named after a poem of Huangbo Xiyun) which talks about a hardship during his ministership.[10] Then, he was invited to the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) prior to the 2010 local elections. He unsuccessfully ran as the Governor of North Jeolla, but gained 18.2%, which became a sensation in South Korean society.[11]

In the 2012 election, Chung was nominated as the Saenuri MP candidate for Jeonju Wansan 2nd constituency (the "Wansan" was removed from its name in 2016). He led in several opinion polls in which focused by some media,[12][13] but in the end he received 35.8% and lost to the DUP's Lee Sang-jik.[14]

Chung was selected again as the Saenuri candidate for Wansan 2nd constituency in the 2016 election. He faced Choi Hyung-jae, the Democratic candidate who lost to Lee Sang-jik in DUP preselection in 2012. He narrowly beat Lee with a majority of 111 votes,[15] made him to be the 2nd conservative MP of Jeonju after Kang Hyun-wook who was elected under New Korea Party (predecessor of the Saenuri Party) banner in 1996.[16] Along with Lee Jung-hyun, he was the only two MPs elected in Honam.[17]

On 26 December 2016, shortly after the political scandal, Chung resigned from the Saenuri Party (Liberty Korea Party since February 2017), along with the party's dissidents, citing that he is no more able to represent people under the Saenuri banner.[18] He then became a founding member of the Bareun Party, however, on 2 May 2017, sources reported that he was considering about either returning to the Liberty Korea Party or being as an independent.[19] Two days later, he decided to remain as a Bareun MP.[20]

On 14 June 2017, Chung announced his bid for the party presidency.[21] On 26 June, he received 17.6% and came behind to Lee Hye-hoon and Ha Tae-keung (only Kim Young-woo was behind of Chung), in which elected Lee as the President while the others as Vice Presidents.[22] Following the resignation of Lee, he launched his another bid for the snap leadership election,[23] but also came to 3rd and lost to Yoo Seong-min, and therefore remained as a Vice President.[24]

After the Bareun Party was merged into the Bareunmirae Party, Chung announced his another bid for the party presidency.[25] On 2 September, he came to forth and failed to be elected as neither the President nor Vice Presidents.[26]

On 3 January 2020, Chung quit from the Bareunmirae Party along with the other dissidents.[27] Two days later, he was elected as the co-Presidents of the newly-formed New Conservative Party, along with Ha Tae-keung, Oh Shin-hwan, Yoo Ui-dong, and Ji Sang-wook.[28] On 14 February, he joined the Future Korea Party (FKP).[29]

Personal life

Chung married to Choi Kyung-sun, a retired school teacher in Seoul.[17] Both has a son (Chung Yong-hoon[30]) and a daughter (Chung Da-eun[31]).[17] His mother died in 1996.[32]

Election results

General elections
YearConstituencyPolitical partyVotes (%)Remarks
2012Jeonju Wansan 2ndSaenuri30,406 (35.79%)Defeated
2016Jeonju 2ndSaenuri40,982 (37.53%)Won
2020PR (16th)FKP9,441,520 (33.84%)Elected

Governor of North Jeolla
YearPolitical partyVotes (%)Remarks
2010GNP151,064 (18.20%)Defeated

References
  1. "정운천 바른정당 최고위원…성공신화 쓴 '호남 보수' 아이콘". 26 June 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  2. "[프로필]정운천 농림부장관 내정자". 19 February 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  3. "[벤처 농사꾼] <6·끝> 참다래사업단 정운천 회장". 18 April 2005. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  4. "참다래 저장 창고 화재 4억여원 피해". 21 April 1999. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  5. ""정운천, 수백억 정부 지원 받아 키위 수입 주력"". 27 February 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  6. "'쇠고기 부실 협상' 책임 정운천·민동석에 '화살'". 21 May 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  7. "야3당 정운천 해임건의안 제출…통과 가능성은?". 21 May 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  8. "국회 정운천 해임건의안 부결". 23 May 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  9. "정운천 농림 "쇠고기 책임 모두 안고 떠난다"". 6 August 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  10. "정운천 前농림 '쇠고기 시위' 경험 책으로". 5 September 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  11. "전북지역 민주당 압승, 한나라당 선전". 3 June 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  12. "새누리 정운천, 이상직 4.2% 앞서 파란". 4 April 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  13. "[전국 박빙지역](3) 전주 완산을, 민주 강세지역서 정운천 선전". 10 April 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  14. "'혹시나' 했던 정운천 낙마 "지역 벽 실감"". 12 April 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  15. "새누리 정운천, 야당 16년간 수성한 전북서 당선". 17 April 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  16. "[20대 총선]20년만에 새누리 정운천 당선…예산폭탄 기대". 14 April 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  17. "정운천·이정현 당선…보수정당에 문 연 호남". 14 April 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  18. "정운천 의원, 새누리당 탈당". 26 December 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  19. "바른정당 내일 탈당 결정한 정운천 의원, 왜?". 2 May 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  20. "정운천, 바른정당 잔류…"새로운 보수정당 지키겠다"(종합)". 4 May 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  21. "정운천, 바른정당 대표 출마선언…"실용·민생 정당 만들겠다"". 14 June 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  22. "바른정당 새 대표 이혜훈…하태경ㆍ정운천ㆍ김영우 최고위원". 26 June 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  23. "정운천, 바른정당 당권도전…11·13 전대 출마 선언". 25 October 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  24. "유승민 바른정당 새 대표 "호남 배제한다고 말한 적 없다"". 13 November 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  25. "정운천, 바른미래 전당대회 출마선언…"당 통합 이루겠다"". 7 August 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  26. "바른미래당 9·2 전당대회 개표 결과". 2 September 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  27. "[종합] 유승민·하태경 등 바른미래당 탈당 … 손학규 "안철수 귀국 전 사퇴 안한다"". 3 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  28. "새로운보수당 공식 창당…하태경 등 5人 공동대표 체제(종합)". 5 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  29. "미래한국당, 정운천 입당으로 '5석' 채웠다". 14 February 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  30. "정운천 후보의 아들 용훈군의 이색 표심잡기". 8 April 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  31. ""나 정운천, 전북에서 '바보 기록' 세우겠다"". 15 March 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  32. "[부음] 정운천 한국 참다래 유통사업단 회장 모친상". 23 January 1996. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
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