Kim Eun-kyung (politician)

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Kim Eun-kyung
김은경
Minister of Environment
In office
4 July 2017 – 9 November 2018
PresidentMoon Jae-in
Prime MinisterLee Nak-yeon
Preceded byCho Kyeong-gyu
Succeeded byCho Myung-rae
Personal details
Born (1956-06-09) 9 June 1956 (age 67)
Seoul, South Korea
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materKorea University
University of Seoul
Korean name
Hangul
김은경
Hanja
Revised RomanizationGim Eun-gyeong
McCune–ReischauerKim Ŭnkyŏng

Kim Eun-kyung (Korean김은경; Hanja金恩京; born 9 June 1956) is a South Korean politician who served as President Moon Jae-in's first Minister of Environment.[1] She was later jailed for two years and sixth months for abuse of power during her term as environment minister.[2]

Career[edit]

Kim was previously widely known to the public as "Ms. Phenol" due to her activism as a citizen representative during 1991 Nakdong River phenol contamination incident.[3]

She first started public service in 1995 when she was elected as Nowon District Council member. On 1998, she was elected as a Seoul Metropolitan Council member. After losing her re-election in 2002, she joined then-candidate Roh Moo-hyun's presidential campaign as his special advisor on environment. She continued working with Roh at his transition team and Blue House until the end of his presidency in 2006.[4]

Kim served as the environment minister from July 2017 to November 2018. In January 2018, the Environment Ministry created a blacklist of 24 public servants associated with the previous Park Geun-hye administration. Kim pressured 15 executives of state-run companies to step down and be replaced by loyalists to the Moon administration. 13 of 24 individuals on the list resigned due to government pressure.[2]

On February 9, 2021, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kim Eun-kyung to 2 years and six months of prison for the environment ministry blacklist case. The court also ordered her to be immediately jailed to prevent the possible destruction of evidence.[2][5]

Education[edit]

She holds three degrees - a bachelor and doctorate in management from Korea University and a master's in urban administration from University of Seoul.[6]

Awards[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "환경부 열린장관실 역대 환경부 장·차관". me.go.kr. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Ser, Myo-ja (9 February 2021). "Blacklist sends ex-environment minister to jail". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  3. ^ "[프로필]김은경 환경부 장관 후보자···'페놀아줌마' 건전한 생태계 복원 기대". Newsis (in Korean). 11 June 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  4. ^ 이, 한재 (5 July 2018). "[Who Is ?] 김은경 환경부 장관". [Who Is ?] 김은경 환경부 장관. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. ^ "'환경부 블랙리스트' 김은경, 1심 유죄 불복…곧장 항소". Newsis (in Korean). 9 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. ^ "김은경 :: 네이버 인물검색". people.search.naver.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.