Moon Kook-hyun
Encyclopedia
Moon Kook-hyun is the leader of the Creative Korea Party, who served as a well-known business manager
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 and civil environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...

 campaigner in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 before entering his political career.

Born in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, Moon studied English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies is one of the leading universities in the Republic of Korea.HUFS has been consistently ranked as one of the most prestigious higher education institutes in Korea, especially being ranked as a top in the field of Foreign Language...

, graduating with a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in 1972, then took a postgraduate course in Business Administration at the Seoul National University
Seoul National University
Seoul National University , colloquially known in Korean as Seoul-dae , is a national research university in Seoul, Korea, ranked 24th in the world in publications in an analysis of data from the Science Citation Index, 7th in Asia and 42nd in the world by the 2011 QS World University Rankings...

.

As a Business Leader

Moon began his career at Yuhan-Kimberly, a company manufacturing paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

 and woven fibre products. In 1983, he spent a year in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, taking some new management concepts. On his return, he developed the concept of "environmental management", focusing on digital printing
Digital printing
Digital printing refers to methods of printing from a digital based image directly to a variety of media. It usually refers to professional printing where small run jobs from desktop publishing and other digital sources are printed using large format and/or high volume laser or inkjet printers...

 technologies and the use of recycled paper.

In 1995, Moon became Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 of Yuhan-Kimberly. In 1996, Moon was appointed committee director of the U.N. Environment (UNEP) Korea Development Organization. Faced with a financial crisis in 1997, he developed a new shift
Shift
Shift generally means to change . Shift may refer to: * Gear shift, to change gears in a car* Shift work, an employment practice* Shift * Shift , a change of level in music...

 system where workers worked twelve-hours shifts for four days running, then took four days off.

2007 Presidential Election

In August 2007, Moon resigned from Yuhan-Kimberly to run in the South Korean presidential election, 2007
South Korean presidential election, 2007
The 17th South Korean presidential election took place on 19 December 2007. The election was won by Lee Myung-bak of the Grand National Party, returning conservatives to the Blue House for the first time in ten years...

. In October, he formed the Creative Korea Party, with an anti-corruption
Anti-Corruption
Anti-Corruption is a 1975 Hong Kong film directed by Ng See Yuen and released under the Eternal Film banner.-External links:* Anti-Corruption at...

, pro-environmentalist program, gaining a bit of support from liberal voters who supported the Participatory Government
Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun GOM GCB was the 16th President of South Korea .Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. His electoral career later expanded to a focus on overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his...

, conservative voters who wanted to change the government and liked a similar 'business leader' portfolio but disliked Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak is the President of South Korea. Prior to his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and the mayor of Seoul. He is married to Kim Yoon-ok and has three daughters and one son. His older brother is Lee Sang-deuk, a South Korean politician. He attends the...

, and from the labor movement.

In the election, Moon won 5.8% of the votes for fourth place. Moon is a Roman Catholic.

2008 Legislative Election

On April 9, 2008, Moon beat the close confidante of Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak is the President of South Korea. Prior to his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and the mayor of Seoul. He is married to Kim Yoon-ok and has three daughters and one son. His older brother is Lee Sang-deuk, a South Korean politician. He attends the...

 (president) Lee Jae-oh (GNP
Grand National Party
The Grand National Party is a conservative political party in South Korea. Its Korean name, Hannara, has a double meaning as "Great National" and "Korean National." The GNP holds a majority of seats in the 18th Assembly, lasting from 2008 to 2012....

, Incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...

), by more than 11%. Although the harsh loss of South Korean liberal candidates especially in Seoul at this 2008 election
South Korean parliamentary election, 2008
Legislative elections were held in South Korea on April 9, 2008.The conservative Grand National Party won 153 of 299 seats while the main opposition United Democratic Party won 81 seats...

, his campaign against 'the Grand Korean Canal' project boosted his popularity in his electoral division and across the nation.

External links

  • Official Homepage
  • Official Mini-homepage(at Cyworld
    Cyworld
    Cyworld is a South Korean social network service operated by SK Communications , a subsidiary of SK Telecom .Members cultivate relationships by forming Ilchon or "friendships" with each other through their minihompy....

    )
  • Official Weblog(at Naver.com)

Grassroot Organizations
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