Preceded by Lee Sang-yeol Name Park Jie-won Party Democratic Party | Preceded by Shin Nak-gyun Role Politician Parents Park Jongsik, Jo Soonduk | |
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Constituency Proportional Representation Political party Democratic United Party | ||
Park Jie-won(Hangul: 박지원; Hanja: 朴智源; born 5 June 1942) is a South Korean politician. He was the chief presidential secretary to President Kim Dae-jung, and served as the Minister of Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism during his administration. On 9 April 2008, he was elected as a member of 18th National Assembly of South Korea for Mokpo as an independent. After being elected, he returned to the Democratic party. In May 2012, he became the floor leader for the Democratic United Party.
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Early life and education
Park Jie-won attended Moontae High School in Mokpo and graduated in 1960. Park studied business in Dankook University and graduated in 1969. Park joined Lucky Goldstar (now LG) in 1970.
Life in the United States
Park Jie-won immigrated to the United States in 1972, and became popular among the expat Korean community. He was elected to become the 16th President of the Korean American Association of Greater New York and subsequently became the 4th President of the Federation of Korean Associations, USA.
Scandal
Park Jie-won arranged the first Inter-Korean Summit between Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il in 2000. During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, prosecutors revealed that hundred of millions of dollars were secretly sent to North Korea before the summit and Park was charged with embezzling $13 million as a commission from the transferred money. In May 2006, he was found guilty of the charge and was sentenced for three years. Park was released in February 2007, and pardoned in December 2007, which enabled him to run for a legislative election in April 2008.