Choi Hye-young

South Korean politician

In this Korean name, the family name is  Choi.

Choi Hye-young

최혜영

Member of the National Assembly

Incumbent

Assumed office
30 May 2020
Constituency| Proportional
Personal details
Born|  (1979-06-01) 1 June 1979 (age 45)
Busan, South Korea
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.

## Life

[edit]

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]

## Politics

[edit]

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]

## Controversies

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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]

## Election results

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### General elections

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Year | Constituency | Political party | Votes (%) | Remarks

|
|
|
|

2020 | PR (11th) | Platform Party[a] | 9,307,112 (33.35%) | Elected

## Notes

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1. ^ Choi is the 1st list of the Democratic Party but ran under the Platform Party banner. According to the Platform Party list, all Democratic members start from 11th list. As the Platform Party was merged into the Democratic Party on 13 May 2020, most of its MPs automatically became the Democratic members.

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "민주당 내년 총선 '영입인재 1호'는 40대 척수장애인 최혜영". 26 December 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
2. ^ a b c d "'민주당 1호 인재' 최혜영 교수가 정치에 뛰어든 계기는 자유한국당이다". 31 December 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
3. ^ "민주당 비례1번 최혜영 선정…이수진·김홍걸 당선가능권 배치". 14 March 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
4. ^ "[속보] 더불어시민당 최혜영·김홍걸 공천…소수정당 2곳은 빠져". 23 March 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
5. ^ a b c "'민주 영입 1호' 최혜영 부부, 혼인신고 미뤄 '부정수급' 의혹". 24 February 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
6. ^ ""열 중 셋은 전과, 이런 비례를?"…최혜영 무면허, 허은아 음주운전". 29 March 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.