Chung Un-chan (Korean: 정운찬; born March 21, 1947[1]) is a South Korean politician who served as the 40th prime minister of South Korea from 2009 to 2010. He was a professor of Seoul National University from 1978 to 2009, serving as the president of the university from July 2002 to July 2006. From 2018 to 2020, Chung also served as the 22nd commissioner of the Korea Baseball Organization.[2]
Chung Un-chan | |
|---|---|
정운찬 | |
Cropped.jpg) | |
| 40th Prime Minister of South Korea | |
| In office 29 September 2009 – 11 August 2010 | |
| President | Lee Myung-bak |
| Preceded by | Han Seung-soo |
| Succeeded by | Yoon Jeung-hyun (acting) Kim Hwang-sik |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 March 1947 Gongju, southern Korea |
| Political party | Independent |
| Alma mater | Seoul National University (BA) Miami University (MA) Princeton University (PhD) |
| Profession | Economist Professor |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 정운찬 |
| Hanja | 鄭雲燦 |
| Revised Romanization | Jeong Unchan |
| McCune–Reischauer | Chŏng Unch'an |
Professional life
editAcademic career
editPrior to his appointment as Seoul National University president, Chung was dean of the college of social sciences in the first half of 2002. From 1993 to 1994, he was associate dean at the college. Chung was a visiting associate professor at the University of Hawaii in 1983, a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics from 1986 to 1987, and a visiting professor at Ruhr-Universitat Bochum (Germany) in 1999. Chung earned a B.A. in economics at Seoul National University in 1970, and an M.A. in economics at Miami University (Ohio) in 1972. Chung received a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1978 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled "Toward a theory of the price setting banking firm."[3] In October 2004, Chung was awarded an honorary degree in international education at the Far Eastern National University in Vladivostok, Russia. Chung continues to write and conduct research in macroeconomics and financial markets. He has numerous publications in both Korean and English.
Public official and educational administrator
editChung has held senior positions in government commissions and private research institutions. In 2002, Chung was Chairman of the Committee on National Pension Development. From 2000 to 2001, he served as Chairman of the Financial Development Committee at the Ministry of Finance and Economy. Since 1996, Chung has served as Director of the Suam Educational and Cultural Foundation. From 1998 to 2001, Chung was Director of the Korea Council of Economic and Social Research Institutes. And from 1998 to 1999, Chung was President of the Korean Money and Finance Association. In addition, Chung was a senior advisor for the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Policy Advisory Committee from 1995 to 1997.[citation needed]
Chung began his academic career as a business associate and assistant professor at Columbia University from 1976 to 1978. After three years of teaching Money and Financial Markets at the university, Chung returned to Seoul National University in late 1978, where he has taught for 27 years on the faculty of economics.[citation needed]
Political career
editChung had topped the list of potential candidates the ruling Uri Party (now Democratic Party) camp would like to recruit at the 2007 presidential election,[4] but he didn't enter the party.[citation needed]
On September 3, 2009, Chung was nominated as Prime Minister of South Korea by president Lee Myung-bak. At the parliamentary confirmation hearing, he said that a government plan to relocate nine ministries and four major administration bodies to the newly created Sejong City in central South Korea would lead to nationwide inefficiency.[5] Opposition parties including Democratic Party threatened to vote against him,[5] but he was approved in the National Assembly of South Korea and assumed office as the 40th prime minister on September 30, 2009.[citation needed]
After assuming office, Sejong city plan had faced uphill political battle and opposition parties vowed Saturday to their struggle against him. After local elections in June 2010, he expressed willingness to resign.[6] He offered his resignation on July 29[7][8] and stepped down on August 10 after 10 months of bitter political experience.[9]
Private life
editChung is a fan of baseball. He is a fan of the Doosan Bears, the Korean baseball team, and the New York Yankees.[10]
References
edit- ^ 정운찬 : 전 국무총리, 전 대학총장. Naver (in Korean). Retrieved 2015-06-19.
- ^ "Chung Un-Chan". keia.org. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- ^ Chung, Un Chan (1978). Toward a theory of the price setting banking firm.
- ^ http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2007/03/21/2007032161032.html The Chosun Ilbo
- ^ a b "Yonhap News Agency".
- ^ "Yonhap News Agency".
- ^ "Yonhap News Agency".
- ^ Video on YouTube
- ^ "Yonhap News Agency".
- ^ 정운찬 총장은 야구狂 (in Korean). Yonhap News / The Chosun Ilbo. 2005-06-02. Archived from the original on 2005-12-01. Retrieved 2006-05-25.