South Korea's First Feminist Prime Minister

Han Myung-Sook(2ndL), a lawmaker from the ruling Uri Party, celebrates with other female lawmakers as she is nominated as the new prime minister, after a press conference at the national assembly in Seoul. (AFP/Kim Kyung-Je)
South Korea is preparing to welcome its first woman prime minister. Han Myung-sook, 62, servd as minister of the environment between 2003 and 2004 and minister of gender equality in 2001. Before joining politics, Myung-sook devoted her time to pro-democracy and feminist issues:

She was jailed in 1979-1981 for her role in the academy, which was dedicated to promoting democracy in South Korea.

Since the 1980s, she devoted herself to promoting women's status in South Korea. She has served as the president of Womenlink Korea, a feministic civilian organization, for a long time.

She acquired Master's Degrees in Christian theology and women's studies respectively from South Korean Hanshin University and famous Ehwa Woman's University. She also obtained Bachelor's Degree in French Language and Literature from Ehwa.

She was married to Park Sung-jun, a professor at SungKong Hoe University who once served over 12 years in jail for leading a democracy movement against the military regime decades ago. They have one 20-year-old son.

She was born in Pyongyang, the current capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in 1944.