SDF

Lee Jeong-mi was born in Busan and grew up in Incheon. After learning about the young Korean labor activist Jeon Tae-il while at university, Jeong-mi worked to bring the labor rights movement to Incheon. She got her first job working at a factory that made shoe polish. She subsequently got reinvolved in labor activism, starting an organization supporting workers’ rights, until she decided she wanted to make a difference in the world through politics. She joined a progressive political party, the Democratic Labor Party, and became one of the late Roe Hoe-chan's closest aides. Jeong-mi witnessed firsthand the ups and downs of progressive politics in Korea, including times of division as well as times of unity. Then, in 2012, she joined with others to form the Justice Party, becoming its assistant chairperson. In 2016, she was elected to the National Assembly as a member of the Justice Party, going on to serve as a member of the National Assembly Impeachment Committee. Coincidentally, she has the same name as the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, who delivered the court’s ruling to uphold the National Assembly’s impeachment decision. In 2017, Jeong-mi succeeded Sim Sang-jung as chair of the Justice Party, a role in which she has worked to champion a “democracy for the faceless.”

Jeong-mi has worked to make the Justice Party a political party that represents the interests of minorities, women, young people, and irregular workers. She will be seeking re-election in the Yeonsu-gu district of Incheon. Also a genuine animal lover, Jeong-mi is currently co-chair of the National Assembly’s Forum for Animal Welfare.