Lee Mi-kyung (politician)

Lee Mi-kyung (Korean: 이미경; Hanja: 李美卿; born 2 September 1950) is a South Korean politician and women's right activist previously served as the head of KOICA, Korea International Cooperation Agency under President Moon Jae-in from 2017 to 2020.^[1] She is the first woman to lead the Agency as well as one of four women who served five or more terms in the National Assembly.

Before assuming the current role, Lee worked for roughly twenty years each at civil society and parliament.

She revealed that her career as a feminist activist started when she participated in creating women's studies course at her university funded by United States Agency for International Development in 1977 during her speech at Global Engagement & Empowerment Forum on Sustainable Development in 2019.^[2] At the same occasion, she also praised the German aid organisation, EZE (now-EED, Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst) for providing financial assistance in founding women's organisation, now-Korean Women Link, in 1982. After serving as the first co-vice-chair and chair of now-Korean Women Link until 1986, she led Korean Women's Associations United as its vice president and chair for a decade. She also was high ranking member of The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan from 1990 to 1996. From 1994 to 1995 she was the co-chair of Korean Women’s NGO Committee for Beijing World Conference on Women working with current Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, then-its spokesperson.^[3]

Lee first entered politics via proportional representation of conservative United Democratic Party, a preceding party of People Power Party. Due to her voting records, she was removed from her party and later joined liberal Democratic Party, a preceding party of Democratic Party of Korea. From 2000 to 2008 Lee took high-ranking role in her parties including the first secretary-general of Democratic Party succeeded by then Assembly member Lee Nak-yeon. From 2012 to 2016 Lee was the co-president of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament and chair of its Korean branch. After failed to be nominated to run for re-election in 2016 general election from her party, she took high-level role in Moon's presidential campaign in 2017.^[4]

Lee graduated from Ewha Girls' High School and Ewha Womans University where she earned her undergraduate degree in English language and literature and postgraduate degree in political science and diplomacy. From September 2016 to August 2017 she was the visiting professor at Graduate School of Policy Studies at her alma mater.