Won Hee-ryong

Won Hee-ryong (; born February 14, 1964) is a South Korean politician who served as the governor of Jeju Province from 2014 to 2021 and as the minister of land, infrastructure and transport from 2022 to 2023. A member of the People Power Party, he was a member of the National Assembly from 2000 to 2012.

Won was known to be a moderating force during his time in the conservative Saenuri Party (GNP's successor) and did not always adopt his party's policies and convictions.

Early life and education He graduated from the college of law in Seoul National University. He is well known for being ranked first in two major state examinations: the College Scholastic Ability Test (1982) and the National Judicial Exam (1992).

During his youth, he was a member of the Korean labour and student movements for 7 years, fighting for the right of labour and democratization.

Passing the 34th National Judicial Exam (1992) and completing courses at Judicial Research and Training Institute, he worked as a public prosecutor in Seoul, Yeoju, and Busan from 1995 to August 1998.

Political career

In 2000, Won was elected as a member of the National Assembly for Yangchon A District. He was re-elected twice in 2004 and 2008.

He served as a member of the Science, Technology, Information & Telecommunication Committee, Legislation & Judiciary Committee (2002), Unification, Foreign Affairs & Trade Committee (2004), Finance & Economy Committee (2006), and Commerce, Industry & Energy Committee (2007) in the National Assembly.

He has been a member of World Economic Forum since 2003 and was elected as a young global leader by WEF (2005 ).

In 2005, Won wrote his life "I Am Dreaming Of Sub-Three."

In 2007, Won ran for the party presidential candidacy; he gained only 1% of the votes.

After retiring from the national assembly in 2012, Won ran and was elected the Governor of Jeju Province in 2014. He won re-election in 2018 as an independent candidate.

Won resigned as governor on August 11, 2021, to focus on his second presidential campaign. He survived primary and secondary elimination of the People Power Party presidential primaries and advanced to the final runoff.

In April 2022, he was nominated as Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport by Yoon Suk Yeol, then-president-elect. Controversies around his use of public money on omakase, and various traffic violations he committed over the years rose during his confirmation hearing.

Election results General elections Year Elections Constituency Political party Votes (%) Results 2000 16th National Assembly General Election Yangcheon A (Seoul) GNP 52,099 (51.15%) Won 2004 17th National Assembly General Election Yangcheon A (Seoul) GNP 69,056 (56.58%) Won 2008 18th National Assembly General Election Yangcheon A (Seoul) GNP 49,847 (52.11%) Won 2024 22nd National Assembly General Election Gyeyang B (Incheon) PPP 40,616 (45.45%) Defeated

Local elections Governor of Jeju Year Elections Constituency Political party Votes (%) Remarks 2014 6th Iocal Election Jeju(Governoral Elections) Saenuri 172,793 (59.97%) Won 2018 7th Iocal Election Jeju(Governoral Elections) Independent 178,255 (51.72%) Won