Kim Eun-kyung (Korean: 김은경; Hanja: 金恩京; born 9 June 1956) is a South Korean politician who served as President Moon Jae-in's first Minister of Environment.[1] She was later jailed for two years and sixth months for abuse of power during her term as environment minister.[2]
Kim Eun-kyung | |
|---|---|
| 김은경 | |
| Minister of Environment | |
| In office 4 July 2017 – 9 November 2018 | |
| President | Moon Jae-in |
| Prime Minister | Lee Nak-yeon |
| Preceded by | Cho Kyeong-gyu |
| Succeeded by | Cho Myung-rae |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 June 1956 Seoul, South Korea |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Korea University University of Seoul |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 김은경 |
| Hanja | 金恩京 |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Eungyeong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Ŭn'gyŏng |
Career
editKim was previously widely known to the public as "Ms. Phenol" due to her activism as a citizen representative during 1991 Nakdong River phenol contamination incident.[3]
She first started public service in 1995 when she was elected as Nowon District Council member. On 1998, she was elected as a Seoul Metropolitan Council member. After losing her re-election in 2002, she joined then-candidate Roh Moo-hyun's presidential campaign as his special advisor on environment. She continued working with Roh at his transition team and Blue House until the end of his presidency in 2006.[4]
Kim served as the environment minister from July 2017 to November 2018. In January 2018, the Environment Ministry created a blacklist of 24 public servants associated with the previous Park Geun-hye administration. Kim pressured 15 executives of state-run companies to step down and be replaced by loyalists to the Moon administration. 13 of 24 individuals on the list resigned due to government pressure.[2]
On February 9, 2021, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kim Eun-kyung to 2 years and six months of prison for the environment ministry blacklist case. The court also ordered her to be immediately jailed to prevent the possible destruction of evidence.[2][5]
Education
editShe holds three degrees - a bachelor and doctorate in management from Korea University and a master's in urban administration from University of Seoul.[6]
Awards
edit
Order of Service Merit by the government of South Korea (2005)
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References
edit- ^ 환경부 열린장관실 역대 환경부 장·차관. me.go.kr. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ a b c Ser, Myo-ja (9 February 2021). "Blacklist sends ex-environment minister to jail". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ [프로필]김은경 환경부 장관 후보자···'페놀아줌마' 건전한 생태계 복원 기대. Newsis (in Korean). 11 June 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ 이, 한재 (5 July 2018). "[Who Is ?] 김은경 환경부 장관". [Who Is ?] 김은경 환경부 장관. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ '환경부 블랙리스트' 김은경, 1심 유죄 불복…곧장 항소. Newsis (in Korean). 9 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ 김은경 :: 네이버 인물검색. people.search.naver.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.