Lee So-young, a member of the Democratic Party, was nominated on August 30 as the Minister of SMEs and Startups. She is a two-term lawmaker and a former climate and environmental attorney.
Born in Busan in 1985, Lee graduated from Baekyang High School in Anyang and earned a law degree from Sungkyunkwan University. She passed the bar exam in 2009 and completed her training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute in 2012, subsequently working as an attorney at Kim & Chang.
During her time at Kim & Chang, Lee specialized in the environmental and energy sectors. After leaving the firm in 2016, she founded the non-profit organization 'Climate Solution,' gaining attention for her 'Coal Finance' project, which advocated for regulating public fund investments in coal power.
Under the Moon Jae-in administration, she served as the secretary of the Reduction Committee for the National Climate and Environment Conference, which was established to address fine dust issues, and played a key role in implementing seasonal management measures for fine dust during winter.
Lee entered politics as a recruited talent for the Democratic Party ahead of the 2020 general elections, successfully securing the nomination for the Gyeonggi Province's Uiwang and Gwacheon district and winning re-election. She has served as the party's spokesperson, the secretary of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Climate, and is currently the secretary of the Climate, Energy, Environment, and Labor Committee in the National Assembly.
◇ Profile
△ Born in 1985
△ Busan
△ Baekyang High School, Anyang
△ Sungkyunkwan University, Law
△ Attorney at Kim & Chang
△ Director of the Korean Society of Environmental Law
△ Expert member of the Reduction Committee for the National Climate and Environment Conference
△ Private member of the Presidential Committee on Green Growth
△ Spokesperson for the Democratic Party
△ Member of the Democratic Party's Emergency Response Committee
△ Secretary of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Climate
△ Secretary of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts
△ Secretary of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment, and Labor Committee
* This article has been translated by AI.
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