Woo Won-shik

Woo Won-shik (Hangul: 우원식; Hanja: 禹元植; born 18 September 1957) is a South Korean politician in the liberal Minjoo Party of Korea, who has been a member of the National Assembly for Nowon, Seoul, since 2012. He previously represented the same constituency between 2004 and 2008.

Early life

A descendant of the Goryeo-era Neo-Confucian scholar U Tak,^[1] Woo was born in Seoul in 1957 and studied civil engineering at Yonsei University,^[2] later receiving a master's degree in environmental studies from the same university.^[1] He was arrested and sentenced to three years of penal labor under the Chun Doo-hwan regime in 1981 for taking part in protests demanding Chun's resignation.^[2]

Political career

Woo was elected to the National Assembly in 2004 as an Uri Party candidate in the Nowon B constituency in Seoul. Early in his Assembly career, Woo pressed for the abolition of South Korea's National Security Law,^[3] and attacked the Supreme Court in 2004 for backing the permanence of the law.^[4] Later, in 2007, he criticized the U.S. armed forces in Korea for the poor environmental conditions on American military bases.^[5] He ran unsuccessfully for chairman of the United New Democratic Party in the leadership election on 10 January 2008, losing to Sohn Hak-kyu.^[6] He lost his seat in the 2008 elections, but stood successfully in the next elections in 2012.^[2]

As an assemblyman, Woo has been active in promoting labor rights.^[1] He is a member of the Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee.^[7] In 2007, he presided over the unanimous approval of a bill to allow academics at private universities to organize unions.^[8] Following his re-entry to the Assembly, in 2013 he established the Committee for Improving the Standing of the Have-Nots or "Euljiro Committee", a group that mediates industrial disputes and works to protect workers' rights. He has served as the Committee's chairman since its founding.^[1][9]

Woo has served in a number of important positions in the Minjoo Party and its predecessors, including deputy floor leader and deputy secretary general.^[1] He is seen as independent of the party's pro–Roh Moo-hyun and Jeolla factions.^[10] Woo also acted as opposition administrator of the special hearing committee to vet the appointment of Hwang Kyo-ahn as Prime Minister in May–June 2015, with the Dong-A Ilbo describing him at this time as having a "strong, steely character".^[11]

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