Rep. Kim Jin-pyo, speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, arrives today (July 23) for an official three-day visit aimed at enhancing cooperation between Manila and Seoul particularly in the fields of energy, infrastructure, and defense.
Representing the Gyeonggi Suwon E district in the legislature, Kim was elected as the National Assembly’s speaker in July 2022.
South Korea National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo (Photo provided by the Korean Embassy in the Philippines)
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez (left) with South Korea National Assembly Speaker Kin Jin-pyo (right) in Jeju Island, South Korea last June 1. The meeting between the two leaders was aimed at strengthening bilateral ties between their two countries (Photo from the House of Representatives website)
During his visit to Manila, he will lead a wreath-laying ceremony at the Korean Memorial Pylon at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Monday, July 24.
On the same day, he will meet with his counterpart at the Lower House, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
Kim and Romualdez previously met in June during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Korea Leaders’ Forum held in Jeju Island, South Korea.
On July 25, the speaker will meet with Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio. He will later have a meeting with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Kim graduated with a B.A, in Law from the Seoul National University in 1971 and an M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988.
He is serving his fifth term as representative in the National Assembly, South Korea’s unicameral legislature.
Among the roles he has served in the National Assembly were as chairman, Special Committee on Real Estate, Democratic Party (2021); chairman, Special Committee on Ethics, National Assembly (2020); chairman of the Division on Economic Emergency, Democratic Party; chairman of the Special Committee on Measures against Covid-19, National Assembly; and as chairman of President Moon Jae-in’s Transition Committee in 2017.
In the executive department, he served as deputy prime minister and minister of Education and Human Resources Development in 2005; deputy prime minister and minister of Finance and Economy in 2003; vice chairman of President Roh Moo-hyun’s Transition Committee in 2002; minister of the Government Policy Coordination Office in 2002; senior secretary for policy planning for President Kim Dae-jung’s Secretariat in 2002; vice minister, Finance and Economy in 2001; chief of the Tax Bureau, Ministry of Finance and Economy in 1999; and deputy director general, Bank Insurance Department, Financial Policy Bureau, Ministry of Finance and Economy in 1996.