Kwon Young-se

Kwon Young-se (Korean: 권영세; born 1 April 1959) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the member for Yongsan in the National Assembly. A member of the People Power Party, he is often described as a moderate conservative within his party.^[1] He previously served in the National Assembly as the member for Yeongdeungpo B from 2002 to 2012.^[2]

Kwon Yeong-se was born on February 24, 1959 in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. He graduated from the Seoul National University School of Law and passed his bar examination in 1983. He later received his MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Prior to becoming a politician, Kwon worked as a public prosecutor. He entered politics when he was nominated as the Grand National Party's candidate for Yeongdeungpo B in the 2002 South Korean by-elections after former member Kim Min-seok's resignation in order to run in the Seoul Mayoral election. Kwon was elected with 54.9% of the vote in the election.^[3] He was re-elected in his constituency in the 2004 election and the 2008 election, but failed to be re-elected in the 2012 election.^[4]

While not a member of the National Assembly, he actively supported Park Geun-hye's campaign in the 2012 South Korean presidential election. He was then appointed by President Park Geun-hye to serve as South Korea's Ambassador to China in early 2013. He returned to South Korea in March 2015 and was succeeded by Kim Jang-soo.^[5]

Upon his return to South Korea, he once again ran as the Saenuri Party's candidate for the Yeongdeungpo B constituency in the 2016 South Korean legislative election. However, he was defeated by incumbent Shin Kyoung-min.^[6]

In the 2020 South Korean legislative election, Kwon narrowly defeated Democratic candidate Kang Tae-woong in the Yongsan constituency race, returning to the National Assembly as a member after eight years.^[7]