Park Kwang-on (Korean박광온, born 25 April 1957) is a South Korean broadcaster and politician. He is the incumbent Member of the National Assembly for Suwon 4th constituency since 2014, as well as the former secretary-general of the ruling liberal Democratic Party from 2020 to 2021. He was one of the vice presidents of the party from 2018 to 2020. Before entering to politics, he worked at Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) from 1984 to 2011.

Park Kwang-on
박광온
Park in 2019
Floor Leader of the Democratic Party
In office
28 April 2023 – 21 September 2023
Preceded byPark Hong-keun
Succeeded byHong Ihk-pyo
Secretary-General of the Democratic Party
In office
31 August 2020 – 4 May 2021
PresidentLee Nak-yon
Preceded byYun Ho-jung
Succeeded byYoun Kwan-suk
Member of the National Assembly
Assumed office
31 July 2014
Preceded byKim Jin-pyo
ConstituencySuwon 4th
Personal details
Born (1957-04-25) 25 April 1957 (age 67)
Haenam, South Jeolla Province, South Korea
Political partyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations
DUP (2011–2013)
Democratic (2013–2014)
NPAD (2014–2015)
Alma materKorea University
Dongguk University
OccupationBroadcaster, politician
ReligionRoman Catholic(Christian Name : Ambrose)

Biography

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Park Kwang-on was born in Haenam, South Jeolla Province on 26 March 1957.[1][2][3] Park holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from Korea University[1][2] and a master's degree in communication sciences from Dongguk University.[3] He entered to MBC in 1984 and served various positions, including correspondent, reporter, news reader and so on.[1][2][3] He served as a correspondent in Tokyo[2][3] from 1997 to 2000 and weekend news leader for MBC Newsdesk[1][3] from 2000 to 2002. He also served as the MC of MBC 100 Minutes Debate[1][3] from 2010 to 2011.

Park left MBC and entered to politics in 2011.[1] Prior to the 2012 election, he contested DUP preselection for Haenam-Wando-Jindo constituency,[2][3] but lost to the incumbent Kim Yung-rok.[4][5][6] Instead, he became a spokesperson for Moon Jae-in, DUP's presidential candidate in 2012.[1][2][3] He was selected as the NPAD candidate for Suwon 4th constituency at the 2014 by-election,[2][5] after Kim Jin-pyo resigned in order to run as the governor of Gyeonggi.[7][8] He defeated Lim Tae-hui of the then ruling Saenuri Party and subsequently became the NPAD's sole winner in Seoul Capital Area.[9][10] He was re-elected in 2016.[5] In August 2018, he ran as a vice presidential candidate of the Democratic Party and won as 2nd.[1][11]

On 15 October 2018, Park and his Anti-Fake News Committee requested Google Korea to remove YouTube contents that include fake news related to Gwangju Uprising, President Moon Jae-in and so on.[12][13] However, Google rejected their request, and added that "it's not easy to catch out which one is real and fake".[14] The opposition Liberty Korea Party criticised their request as "media control".[14]

On 31 August 2020, Park was appointed the new secretary-general of the Democratic Party, under the new President Lee Nak-yon.[15]

Park Kwang-on was elected as the floor leader of the Democratic Party with the support of a majority of lawmakers in the first round of voting. Rep. Park Kwang-on is classified as a non-Lee Jae-myung faction that takes a neutral or critical stance against Lee Jae-myung.[16][17] In September 2023, the Democratic Party-majority National Assembly passed a motion to remove the parliamentary immunity of Democratic Party leader, Lee Jae-myung, who is facing criminal charges of bribery and breach of duty. Park resigned for his failure to stop the motion.[18]

Election results

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General elections

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Year Constituency Political party Votes (%) Remarks
2014 Suwon 4th NPAD 39,461 (52.67%) Won
2016 Suwon 4th Democratic 52,209 (46.34%) Won
2020 Suwon 4th Democratic 79,557 (57.42%) Won

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h [프로필] 박광온 최고위원…'문재인 대변인'에서 '당원대변인'. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "[7·30프로필]수원정 박광온 당선인은 누구?". 30 July 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h [프로필]박광온 민주당 대변인. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  4. ^ 해남·완도·진도 김영록 후보" 해남화력발전소 객관적으로 검증하자". 24 March 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b c 박광온 후보 수원정 당선 재선에 성공. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  6. ^ "[Who Is ?] 김영록 전남도지사". 30 July 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  7. ^ 여야 남경필·김진표 후보 의원직 사퇴, 내일부터 출격. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  8. ^ 김진표, "박광온이 곧 김진표" 지지 호소. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  9. ^ '랜선효녀'의 트위터 '깽판' 선거 운동 '듣보잡' 아빠를 국회로 보내다. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  10. ^ [수원정 (영통)] MB맨 임태희 잡은 MBC맨 박광온. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  11. ^ '문재인의 대변인' 박광온, 최고위원으로 민주당 지도부 입성. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  12. ^ "유튜브서 허위콘텐츠 삭제해달라" 가짜뉴스특위 구글코리아 방문. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  13. ^ 민주당 가짜뉴스특위 "허위정보 콘텐츠 '유튜브'서 삭제해달라". 15 October 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  14. ^ a b 구글 "한건도 삭제 못해" 민주당 "법 통과 땐 구글도 처벌 대상". 24 October 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  15. ^ 민주당 신임 사무총장 박광온, 정책위의장 한정애(종합). 31 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  16. ^ Kim, Han-joo (28 April 2023). "Rep. Park Kwang-on elected new floor leader of main opposition party". Yonhap. Seoul.
  17. ^ Kim-Yun, Na-yeong; Tak, Ji-young (2 May 2023). "Park Kwang-on, "Next Year's Parliamentary Elections Will Be a Battle for Expansion. We Will Promote a 4-day Workweek for Working Couples with Children"". Kyunghyang Shinmun.
  18. ^ Lee, Woo-yun. "Korea's top opposition party left reeling after vote paves way for leader's arrest". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
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