Choi Jieun
Vice Chairman of Policy Committee, the Democratic Party
Assumed office
4 May 2020
LeaderLee Hae-chan
Lee Nak-yeon
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born (1980-11-21) 21 November 1980
Busan, South Korea
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materSogang University
Harvard University
University of Oxford
Websitehttps://www.jieunchoi.org/

Choi Jieun (Korean: 최지은; Hanja: 崔芝銀; born 21 November 1980) is a South Korean economist and politician. She served as the spokesperson for and senior policy advisor to Lee Jae Myung, the previous presidential candidate of the Democratic party and current party leader. Also, Choi is an adjunct professor at Seoul National University and a member of the Presidential Policy Planning Committee under the Moon Jae In administration. Before entering politics in 2020, Choi worked as a senior economist at the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Education

Choi holds three degrees: a bachelor's in economics from Sogang University, a Master of Public Administration in international development from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a doctorate in international development from the University of Oxford.[1] She is a graduate of Myungduk Foreign Language High School.

Career before politics

Choi has demonstrated herself as an expert in international development through her work at the African Development Bank and World Bank.

From 2004 Choi worked at Samsung Electronics's Telecommunications Network Division overseeing its projects in China and Vietnam[2] before leaving for postgraduate studies at Harvard Kennedy School in 2007.[3]

Upon graduation, Choi joined the African Development Bank via the Young Professionals Programme, becoming its first South Korean staff since 1982, when South Korea officially became a non-regional member.[4] She worked as its country economist for Egypt during the 2011 Arab Spring and was later promoted to senior economist at its research department.[3]

In 2013 Choi then joined the World Bank as its senior economist, assisting former Soviet Union countries' transition to market economies and later Africa's standing in 4th industrial revolution.[2] Before leaving for the general election in 2020, she worked as a senior country economist for China.[5]

Political career

In January 2020 Choi returned to Korea and entered politics. She was recruited by the Democratic Party for the upcoming legislative election in April.[4]

In the 2020 general election, Choi ran for the constituency in Busan – the same constituency Roh Moo-hyun unsuccessfully ran for to overcome regionalism but later became the stepping stone for Roh's presidential campaign.[6] She lost to the incumbent parliamentarian from the main opposition party, Kim Do-eup (Korean: 김도읍), by the smallest margin the democratic candidate lost in 12 years – a notable figure considering this constituency never elected a democratic parliamentarian since its creation in 1996 and she just entered politics 3 months ago.[7]

In May 2020 Choi was appointed as the international spokesperson of the Democratic Party – the first of its kind in the history of her party and preceding parties.[8][1] In August 2020 the newly elected leader of her party, Lee Nak-yon, re-appointed her to the same post while creating other spokesperson posts for other areas – youth, economy and security affairs.[9]

In October 2020 Choi joined the party's newly founded "Korean Peninsula Taskforce (Korean: 한반도TF)" as its founding member. This taskforce consisted of senior assembly member with expertise in foreign and inter-Korean relations, including later Party Leader Song Young Gil, will seek out to support ongoing momentum in Korean peninsula towards peace irrespective of leadership changes in Japan and United States.[10]

She also actively promoted the establishment of Gadeokdo New International Airport and the related laws. Afterwards, Choi was appointed as the chairperson of the special committee for the Busan Gadeok New Airport Promotion of the Democratic Party.[11]

In the 2021 by-election, she was widely considered as the Democratic Party's candidate for Busan Metropolitan City mayor. It is known that she has been asked to run for mayor election several times from the Busan Democratic Party, and in various opinion polls, she ranked second in the suitability of the Democratic Party candidate and firmly in second place among the Democratic Party supporters. However, she announced her intention not to run for the major election because the election was held for the reasons attributable to the Democratic Party. Later, she supported Kim Young-Chun, who later became Democratic Party's nominee for Pusan Major election.[12] Although the Democratic Party lost heavily in the election, Kim Young-chun took first place in the Bukgangseo-eul (Kangseo District and Part of Buk District), where Choi directly led the election.

In 2021, Choi joined Lee Jae Myung's presidential campaign as a policy advisor and spokesperson throughout the Democratic primary. Choi had debated on the value and feasibilities of universal basic income and other Lee's campaign pledges with Yoon Hee Suk before she resigned from the opposition party's candidate.[13][14] She also co-led Lee's primary campaign team in Pusan, and contributed to his unexpected success in Pusan, which is the second largest city in Korea but politically conservative.[15][16][17]

Political positions

She is a strong advocate of Gadeokdo New International Airport. Both Gimhae Airport and Gadeokdo New Airport are located in her constituency, Gangseo district of Busan. Choi Ji-eun actively pushed to establish the new Gadeok Airport and the law on the new Gadeok Airport, which passed early 2021.[18] Afterwards, Choi was appointed as the chairperson of the special committee for the Busan Gadeok New Airport Promotion of the Democratic Party.[19] She emphasizes the importance of the Gadeok New Airport for re-boosting and re-shaping Busan economy. She considers Singapore is a good benchmark for Pusan.[20]

Choi has been contributing to shaping the party's economic policy agenda and new legislations as a core member of the party's strategic committees. She serves as the vice-chairman of the Policy Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Economic Advisory Council, a member of the Innovation Committee, a member of Media Mediation Law Task Force, and a member of the Special Committee on Semiconductors.

She is a founding member of the 'Democracy 4.0 Researcher', a think tank led by pro-Moon (pro-Moon Jae-in) members of the Democratic Party.

Other information

Choi works as an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University and a member of the Presidential Policy Planning Committee, under the Moon Jae In administration, taking on major tasks in the field of economic policy including small business promotion policies, digital trade and big tech regulations.

Electoral history

Election Year District Party affiliation Votes Percentage of votes Results
21st National Assembly general election 2020 Busan Buk District-Gangseo District B Democratic Party 63,146 43.20% Lost

References

  1. 1 2 "Ruling party appoints first-ever press officer for foreign media". koreatimes. 2020-05-05. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  2. 1 2 "Jieun Choi | Senior Economist, Office of Chief Economist, Africa Region". blogs.worldbank.org. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  3. 1 2 "최지은 월드뱅크 국제개발컨설팅 이코노미스트, "한국 젊은이들 국제개발 독창적 역할 기대"". www.dt.co.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  4. 1 2 "與 영입인재 9호는 최지은 박사…세계은행 출신 '국제 문제 전문가'". hankyung.com (in Korean). 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  5. ↑ 김동호 (2020-01-16). "민주 '세계은행 이코노미스트' 최지은 영입…"국제경제 전문가"(종합)". 연합뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  6. ↑ "CNN.com – Profile: President-elect Roh Moo-hyun – Dec. 31, 2002". edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  7. ↑ UPI뉴스 (2020-04-29). ""떨어졌지만 험지에서 내공 쌓았다…민주당 미래를 맡겠다"". UPI뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  8. ↑ 서혜림 (2020-05-04). "민주, 외신대변인 별도로 둔다…최지은 전WB 이코노미스트 임명". 연합뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-08-31.
  9. ↑ "더불어민주당". theminjoo.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  10. ↑ 기자, 인천/박주용 (2020-10-15). "송영길, "국익 확보 위해 전방위 의원외교 나설 것"". 신아일보 (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  11. ↑ 제갈수만. "민주당 부산시당, 가덕신공항유치특위 설치". <NEWSIS>.2020년 11월 19일
  12. ↑ 박정배. "최지은 민주당 국제대변인, 부산시장 보선 불출마…“당 귀책 사유 짊어진 동지 도울 것”. <대한경제>. 2021년 1월 24일
  13. ↑ "이재명 '기본대출' 저격한 윤희숙 "대변인 뒤 숨지말고 링에서 붙자"". 11 August 2021.
  14. ↑ "이재명 측 "기본정책 관심 감사...비판 대부분 틀려"". 11 August 2021.
  15. ↑ 김해정. "여당 빅3 대결만큼 뜨겁다, 세 캠프 부산인사들의 홍보 열전” <국제신문>. 2021년 7월 14일
  16. ↑ 이상철. "최지은, "부산 경제 대전환, 이재명은 합니다" <글로벌뉴스>. 2021년 7월 31일
  17. ↑ 이창환. "이재명 측 "부울경 높은 지지율…청렴·진실 믿는 것"” <NEWSIS>. 2021년 10월 2일
  18. ↑ 김해정. "민주당 전대 레이스에 ‘가덕신공항’ 뜬다" <국제신문>. 2020년 7월 26일
  19. ↑ 제갈수만. "민주당 부산시당, 가덕신공항유치특위 설치". <세계일보>. 2020년 2월 11일
  20. ↑ 원동화. "가덕신공항이 부산 발전 초석될 것…홍콩·싱가포르는 우리의 미래" <리더스경제>. 2020년 12월 4일
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