Yim Young-shin

Im Yeong-sin (; 20 November 1899 – 17 February 1977), also known by the English name Louise Yim, was a South Korean educator and politician. She was both the first female minister in South Korea, holding the post of Minister of Commerce and Industry from 1948 to 1949, and the first woman elected to the South Korean parliament, serving from 1949 to 1954. Yim also helped establish Chung-Ang University.

Biography Yim was born into a wealthy family of farmers in Geumsan in 1899. She began organising anti-Japanese activities while at high school. After organising protests as part of the March First Movement in 1919, she was jailed and tortured. She subsequently attended university in the United States, earning an MA in political science and theology at the University of Southern California. Returning to Korea, she worked for the Young Women's Christian Association, before becoming head of the Chung-Ang Training School for Kindergarten Teachers. helping draft the resolution that granted South Korea independence. She was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1950. In 1952 she contested the vice-presidential elections, finishing seventh in a field of nine candidates with 2.7% of the vote. In 1953 she was appointed president of Chung-Ang University, a role she held until 1961. She lost her seat in the National Assembly in 1954, but ran for the vice-presidency again in 1960, finishing last out of four candidates with less than 1% of the vote.

Yim published an autobiography, My Forty Year Fight for Korea. She died in Seoul in February 1977 at the age of 77.