Ha Tae-keung

Ha Tae-keung (Korean: 하태경, born 26 April 1968) is South Korean activist and politician who is currently a member of National Assembly representing the 1st constituency of Haeundae District in Busan.[1][2] He has served as Vice President of the Bareun Party,[1][2] a Vice President of the Bareunmirae Party, and one of the co-Presidents of the New Conservative Party.[3]

In this Korean name, the family name is Ha.
Ha Tae-keung
MP
하태경
Ha in 2020
Member of the National Assembly
Assumed office
30 May 2016
Preceded byPosition established
ConstituencyBusan Haeundae District 1st
In office
30 May 2012 – 29 May 2016
Preceded byAhn Kyung-ryul
Succeeded byPosition abolished
ConstituencyBusan Haeundae District & Gijang County 2nd
President of the New Conservative Party
In office
5 January 2020 – 17 February 2020
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Personal details
Born (1968-04-26) 26 April 1968
East District, Busan, South Korea
CitizenshipSouth Korean
Political partyUnited Future/People Power (2020-present)
Other political
affiliations		Grand National (2011-2012)
Saenuri (2012-2016)
Bareun (2017-2018)
Bareunmirae (2018-2020)
New Conservative (2020)
Alma materJilin University
OccupationActivist, politician

Biography

Ha Tae-keung was born in Busan in 1968.[1] During the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan, Ha was a pro-democracy activist.[2] During the early 1990s, he was a member of the National University Students Association (NUSA),[1] which also included members Lim Soo-kyung and Im Jong-seok. Ha was detained in 1991 on charges of breaching the National Security Act.[4][2] He returned to his activist career after released in 1993.[5]

During the 2000s, Ha was interested in North Korean human rights, which he often did activism for.[6][1][2] In 2011, Ha received Human Rights Award of Korea.

Political career

In 2011, Ha joined the conservative Grand National Party (GNP),[6] and was elected as a National Assembly representative for the party, then known as the Saenuri Party, in the 2012 South Korean legislative election.[1][2] He was re-elected in 2016.[1][2]

During the political scandal in 2016, Ha left the Saenuri Party and became one of the founders of the Bareun Party along with other defectors from the Saenuri Party.[1] He ran for president of the Bareun Party in May 2017, but lost to Lee Hye-hoon. Instead, he was elected to the vice presidency. After Kim Se-yeon left the party, Ha became the party's sole Busan MP.[7]

In 2018, the Bareun Party merged with the People Party to become the Bareunmirae Party. Ha ran for president of the Bareunmirae Party during the September 2018 leadership election,[8] coming in 2nd place and losing to Sohn Hak-kyu. Ha instead became one of several Vice Presidents of the Bareunmirae Party.[9][1][2]

On 5 January 2020, Ha joined seven other representatives in defecting from the Bareunmirae Party to join the New Conservative Party. Upon his defection, Ha became one of the co-Presidents of the New Conservative Party until dissolved upon its unification with the Liberty Korea Party to form the United Future Party on 17 February 2020.

In 2020, Ha was re-elected as representative of the 1st constituency of Haeundae District in Busan, as a member of the United Future Party. The party changed its name to the People Power Party later in 2020.

On 11 June 2021, Ha announced his candidacy in the 2022 South Korean presidential election as a member of the People Power Party.[10]

Political positions

Ha is politically "centre-right"[11] who opposes extremist politics of both the far-left and the far-right. After the 2017 presidential election, he spoke in favor of the dissolving the "far-right" Liberty Korea Party (LKP) a similar manner to the 2014 banning of the "far-left" Unified Progressive Party (UPP).[12] Ha also condemned Bareun Party representatives who returned to the LKP.

Ha is an opponent of anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea, and criticized the anti-Japanese 2019 boycott of Japanese products in South Korea.[13]

Ha has received criticism for actions and remarks appearing to be populist,[14] such as remarks made in 2014 defending Ilbe Storehouse.[15]

Election results

General elections
YearConstituencyPolitical partyVotes (%)Result
2012Haeundae District & Gijang County 2ndSaenuri44.80%Won
2016Haeundae District 1stSaenuri51.75%Won
2020Haeundae District 1stUnited Future59.47%Won

References
  1. "[프로필] 하태경 바른미래 최고위원…'사이다 정치' 재선". 2 September 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  2. "[바른미래 최고위원 프로필] '유일한 PK' 하태경, 최고위원만 네 번째". 2 September 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  3. 이, 재걸. "[21대 국회를 이끄는 사람들 | 미래통합당 하태경 당선인(부산 해운대갑)] "불공정 타파로 세대 벽 허물어야"". 내일신문. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  4. "[후보 분석] 6명 中 1명 軍 미필..새누리 '질병'-민주 '수형'". 23 March 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  5. "새누리당은 종북뻐꾸기 하태경 의원을 즉각 제명하라!". 15 July 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  6. "N. Korean rights activist to run for Assembly". 25 January 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  7. "하태경, 김세연 탈당에 "제가 PK 유일 바른정당 의원…마지막 자존심 지킬 것"". 9 January 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  8. "바른미래당 전당대회 현역 출마 러시… 손학규는 8일 출마선언". 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  9. "바른미래당, 전당대회…손학규 신임 대표 선출". 2 September 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  10. Park, Jin-hyeong (June 11, 2021). "'이준석 열풍' 속 대권도전 하태경… "젊은 사람 용기 필요해"". Gyeonggi Shinmun. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  11. "From Prison to the President's Office: A Former Radical Helps Shape Korean Detente". 23 April 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  12. "바른정당 토론회서 "종북몰이는 극우"…한국당 해산 주장도". 9 July 2017. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  13. "명동에 'No Japan'…하태경·이언주 "상인 죽일 셈이냐"". 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  14. Lee Hyung-Min (23 January 2019). "하태경 "이 시대의 약자는 20·30 男…여성우대 법 손볼 것"". 국민일보. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  15. Digital News Team (9 September 2014). "하태경 "일베 등 20대 우파들은 아직은 희망이 있다"". 경향신문. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
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