Frustrated civic activist jumps into politics

Legend in civic activism has yet to prove mettle in established politics
and potential as an administrator


Park Won-soon won a key battle in his quest to become Seoul mayor, securing the unified candidacy of all liberal opposition forces on Monday.

The independent candidate is leading in polls against Rep. Na Kyung-won, the standard-bearer of the conservative ruling Grand National Party.

“Poll results demonstrate citizens’ desire for a change after a decade under conservative mayors who placed their political ambitions ahead of citizens,” the 55-year-old Park said.

A former human rights lawyer, Park was among the first-generation civil activists who laid the foundation of key civil movements in the 1980s and 1990s following the democratization of Korea. 

Early years

Park was born in 1956 in a rural town of Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. A hard worker from his early years, he excelled in schools at his hometown and enrolled in Gyeonggi High School, a top-ranked school in Seoul, and advanced to the prestigious Law College of Seoul National University.

His days at the top university ended abruptly, however, because of an incident in 1975, which, according to Park, changed his life forever.

The year was the darkest period of Korean democracy, when military dictator Park Chung-hee suppressed freedom of speech and other basic human rights.

Park, who was at that time just three months into his first year at SNU, participated in a student demonstration against the regime, and because of it was jailed for four months and expelled from the university.

“Had I not joined the rally that day, I might be living a totally different life,” he later said in an interview.

In 1976, he entered Dankook University’s history department and started preparing for the national bar exam. He passed the test in 1980.

At the judicial training institute, he met his “mentor” Cho Young-rae, who later became a legendary human rights attorney.

After a brief stint as state prosecutor, Park followed in the footsteps of Cho, joining as attorney in defense of social minorities in high-profile rights infringement cases against the authorities.

Park and Cho led a group of pro-democracy lawyers, who later formed Minbyon, the Lawyers’ for a Democratic Society.

Devotion to civil activism

In l991, after the death of Cho, Park left for the United Kingdom and the United States to study. He returned to Korea in 1993, armed with new ideas and determination to change the society.

His first mission was to set up a civic group ― the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy ― which would campaign for people’s rights and social reforms.

As the secretary general of the PSPD, he led a spat of movements such as shareholder activism, a boycott of corrupt candidates during election campaigns and a campaign to abolish the National Security Law.

In 1996, he won the Ramon Magsaysay Prize, dubbed the Asian Nobel Peace Prize, for his contribution to the development of Korean democracy.

During his visit in 1998 to the United States, he was moved by the American culture of donation and decided that it was something he would devote his life to after the PSPD.

In 2000, he founded the Beautiful Foundation, which runs Beautiful Store charity shops nationwide and carries out charity programs with donations from big corporations and individuals.

Park was at the forefront of its fundraising efforts, building a wide network of donators encompassing business tycoons, who own chaebols, or the country’s family-controlled conglomerates often criticized by the PSPD, and conservative politicians.

President Lee Myung-bak, during his tenure as Seoul mayor from 2002-06, donated his entire salary to the foundation.

In 2006, Park embarked on a new mission, setting up the Hope Institute, which he described as a citizens’ think tank that makes policy suggestions to local governments and politicians.

People close to Park describe him as a notorious workaholic who does not drink and seldom goes on vacations.

“He has such a smile that instantly disarms people. But when he is at work, he is intense and extremely good at details,” said a civil activist who had worked for him.

Park, announcing his bid for Seoul mayor, said: “I devoted my whole life to making the society a better place. No one has asked me to do this and I didn’t expect any reward from it. But I just made myself busy, trying to help solve problems of our society.” 

Move into politics

For many years, Park has been sought after by both liberal and conservative politicians who were seeking to bring in a fresh face to liven up their respective parties.

In 2000, the governing GNP had promised him the No. 1 spot on the party’s proportional representatives’ list, which Park flatly rejected. The liberal Democratic Party had also wooed him several times to no avail.

“A lot of people have tried to talk me, pressure me and even force me into politics for so many years, which I had obstinately resisted,” Park said.

Then what made him change his mind? People around him say that frustration at the administration of President Lee seems to have affected his decision.

“I can’t live a noble life of my own, when people are suffering and the country is going backward,” he has said.

Since the conservative president took office, many of his projects faced difficulties, which he claims was because of the systematic hindrance of the authorities including the national spy agency.

He even accused the National Intelligence Service for spying on civic activists.
The National Intelligence Service has sued Park for libel for the claims. A lower court has cleared Park, but the NIS has appealed to the high court.

“I start something and if that’s all settled and would go well without me, then I move on to start another venture. That was how I have worked so far,” Park said. “I stayed with the Hope Institute for five years, so it was about time that I make a new move too.” 

Park Won-soon

● Age: 55

● Birthplace: Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province

● Education:

- Received a diploma from the London School of Economics and Political Science

- Graduated from Dankook University with a history major

● Family: Wife (Kang Nan-hee, head of P&P Design), one son and one daughter

● Career:

- Outside director of POSCO and Pulmuone, a food company

- Board member of civic research institute The Hope Institute

- Board member of charity organization The Beautiful Store

- Head of the secretariat of the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy

- Prosecutor in Daegu district

● Positions on issues:

- Supports free school meals given regardless of income level

- Seeks to overhaul the Han River Renaissance development project

- Seeks to discontinue renovation works on Yanghwa Bridge to enable large ships to pass under it

● Personal wealth: Has not disclosed his personal wealth yet.


By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)