Choi Hye-young | |
---|---|
최혜영 | |
Member of the National Assembly | |
Assumed office 30 May 2020 | |
Constituency | Proportional |
Personal details | |
Born | Busan, South Korea | 1 June 1979
Citizenship | South Korean |
Political party | Democratic (2019–2020; 2020-) |
Other political affiliations | Platform (2020) |
Alma mater | Silla University Seoul Women's University Korea Nazarene University |
Occupation | Educator, politician |
Choi Hye-young (Korean: 최혜영, born 1 June 1979) is a South Korean educator and politician serving as the Member of the National Assembly since 2020.
Initially having a dream as a ballerina, she changed her mind after an unfortunate accident left her a quadriplegic in 2003.[1][2] Since then, she brought a decision to be an educator could improve the awareness of disability.[1] In 2009, she established Korea Education Centre for Disabilities Awareness.[1] Currently, she is a professor of the Department of Social Welfare and Administration at Gangdong University.[1]
She holds a bachelor's degree in dance at Silla University.[1] She attained a master's degree in social welfare[2] at Seoul Women's University in 2010.[1] In 2017, she also received a doctorate in rehabilitation welfare at Korea Nazarene University, made her to be the first disabled woman with spinal cord injury to receive the doctorate.[1]
She married Chung Nak-hyun, an ex-swimmer who has also been having a quadriplegia following his diving accident.[1] He then became a rugby player and received a silver medal in the 2014 Asian Para Games.[1]
On 26 December 2019, Choi was brought to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) by its President Lee Hae-chan.[1] During an interview with Kim Hyun-jung's News Show of CBS, she revealed that she joined politics after her saw the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP)'s intention to oppose the 3 Kindergarten Acts, in which she thought the LKP is impossible to fight for disabled rights.[2] She also added if she is elected to the National Assembly, she will fight for disabled female rights.[2]
On 14 March 2020, the DPK had revealed its proportional list for the upcoming election, in which Choi would contest the party's 1st list.[3] After the party had joined the Platform Party, a satellite party to the DPK and an electoral alliance including DPK and other minor left-of-centre parties, Choi contested the alliance's 11th list; the DPK candidates start from 11th.[4]
On 24 February 2020, sources reported that though both Choi and Chung had married in 2011 but the registration was done in 2019.[5] The sources also revealed that therefore, Chung was unfairly taking benefits by delaying the marriage registration.[5] Choi denied they were unfairly enjoying benefits.[5]
Choi was also reported that she was formerly fined a million won (≒ US$1,000) for driving without a licence.[6]
Year | Constituency | Political party | Votes (%) | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | PR (11th) | Platform Party[a] | 9,307,112 (33.35%) | Elected |