ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Metro Manila devider Filipino-Korean Jasmine Bacurnay Lee reelected to SK's National Assembly

Filipino-Korean Jasmine Bacurnay Lee reelected to SK's National Assembly

Published Feb 16, 2024 02:49 am

At A Glance

  • In 2012, Lee made history in South Korea by becoming the first immigrant to be elected to the National Assembly. 

Filipino-Korean Jasmine Bacurnay Lee returned to South Korea’s National Assembly as a lawmaker. 

Rep. Lee was reelected as a proportional representative of the Green Justice Party after Rep. Ryu Ho-jeong resigned from the party last January to join the New Party political party. 

Jasmine5.jpg

Rep. Jasmine Bacurnay Lee (center) with Green Justice Party members (Photo from Rep. Lee's Facebook page)

Jasmine6.jpg

Rep. Jasmine Bacurnay Lee with Green Justice Party members (Photo from Rep. Lee's Facebook page)Jasmine4.jpeg

Rep. Jasmine Bacurnay Lee's profile on the National Assembly of South Korea website (Screenshot from the National Assembly website) 

Lee, 47, started her term as a proportional representative in the 21st National Assembly of South Korea on Jan. 29 this year and will serve until May 29 this year, the last day of the term of office of the members of the assembly which began in May 2020. 

This marked Lee’s return to the National Assembly. 

In 2012, Lee made history in South Korea by becoming the first immigrant to be elected to the National Assembly. She served as a proportional representative in Korea’s legislature from 2012 to 2016 under the conservative Saenuri Party. 

This time, she also made history by being reelected as a proportional representative of a conservative party and progressive party (Green Justice Party), Korean media reported. 

Lee was officially welcomed by the Green Justice Party at a ceremony at the National Assembly on Feb. 1. 

She got married to Korean Lee Dong Ho in 1995 and became a naturalized Korean citizen in 1998.

After her husband died in 2010, she worked hard to raise their two children: Seung-geon and Seung-yeon. 

Before she became a proportional representative in 2012, she worked as an actress, starring in the 2011 hit movie “Punch” as the Filipino mother of Do Waen-duk, played by actor Yoo Ah-in. 

Lee also appeared in the TV programs “Global Quiz Show Korean King,” “Love in Asia” and “Yeo Yoo Man Man.” 

She, who grew up in Davao, became a leading advocate for immigrants and multiculturalism in Korea. 

In an interview with Manila Bulletin in Seoul in 2017, or a year after she left her National Assembly seat, Lee discussed her project Dream School. 

“Ang Dream School matagal ko na siyang plan nung nasa KBS [Korean TV station] pa ako. Basically, ang concept nya ay to introduce all these women (to job opportunities in Korea). (The Dream School has long been my plan when I was still at KBS. Basically, the concept is to introduce all these women (to job opportunities in Korea),” she said.

1Jasmine (1).JPG

2Jasmine (1).JPGJasmine Bacurnay Lee welcoming participants to her Dream School project at the National Assembly building in Seoul in 2017. (Jonathan Hicap)

3Jasmine (1).jpg

Jasmine Lee and Korean actor Yoo Ah-in in a scene in the 2011 hit movie “Punch” (Photo courtesy of “Punch” official Naver page/UBU Film)

Lee said her aim was to encourage foreign women who are married to Koreans that they can also get the job they want and not be limited to a few opportunities.

“They think that in this society, it’s impossible for them to get jobs,” she said.

During her four-year stint at the National Assembly from 2012 to 2016, she focused on multiculturalism as one of her main advocacies.  

When asked what she did learn as a member of the National Assembly, she said, “The biggest scare ko dun ay basically yung biggest worry ng mga tao na I can’t do it (My biggest scare was basically the biggest worry of the people that I can’t do it).” 

She added, “Mataas yung expectation sa iyo ng migrant society (The migrant society had high expectation on you).” 

By becoming a proportional representative to the National Assembly, Lee proved that migrants can also enter politics.

“Isang asset na being a famous person doing politics. You get to learn that we can do this. Migrants, we can do this--to be a member of the National Assembly. Mahirap lang kasi sa akin dahil ako yung pioneer. Wala pa siyang paved road for me to walk on to (it was hard for me because I was the pioneer. There was no paved road for me to walk on to). I have to make my own road,” she said. 

There are about 2.5 million foreigners living in South Korea. 

Related Tags

Rep. Jasmine Bacurnay Lee South Korea
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.