Hangul 권영길 Name Kwon Young-ghil McCune–Reischauer Kwon Yonggil | Hanja 權永吉 | |
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Revised Romanization Gwon Yeonggil | ||
Kwon Young-ghil (Hangul: 권영길; born November 5, 1941, in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan) is a South Korean politician, journalist, human rights activist, and workers' rights activist. He was a founding member of the People's Victory 21 party and Democratic Labour Party.
Life
Kwon was born in Japan, before returning to Korea. His father Kwon Wu-hyun(권우현) was a member of left-wing nationalists movements. In Kwon's early years worked at Daehan Ilbo (대한일보, 大韓日報) and Seoul Shinmun as a journalist and newsman. From 1980 to 1987, he was a Seoul Shinmun correspondent in Paris, France.
He has a Bachelor's degree in sericulture from Seoul National University (1969). Before turning to politics, he led several labour organizations including Korean Federation of Press Unions and Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. In 1996 and 1997 he was Chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU, 전국민주노동조합총연맹; 全國民主勞動組合總聯盟).
He was the President of left-wing Democratic Labour Party, and is currently a member of the National Assembly. Kwon is a Roman Catholic. In 2000 to 2009 he was the head of the Democratic Labour Party.