(profile) Labor minister nominee: former staunch labor activist turned conservative politician

Kim Moon-soo, the labor minister nominee, is a former labor rights fighter- turned-conservative politician. Kim, currently the head of the presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council, became a labor and democratization icon in the 1970s and 1980s due to his deep involvement in high-profile student democratization protests, which led to his expulsion from the prestigious Seoul National University twice. After his expulsion, he entered labor activism, working as an assistant seamster and later becoming a branch head of the Korean Metal Workers' Union, one of the most militant unions. During this time, he was imprisoned twice. In 1996, Kim joined what is now the People Power Party and won a parliamentary seat for three consecutive terms. He later served as governor of Gyeonggi Province twice until 2014. Kim unsuccessfully competed against former President Park Geun-hye in the conservative party's 2012 internal election to select its presidential candidate. Kim's radical shift from labor activism to the conservative party and subsequent adoption of "right-wing" attitudes earned him stiff resistance from the labor sector. Born in 1951, he is a native of Yeongcheon in North Gyeongsang Province and holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Seoul National University, which he finally received in 1994, long after his previous expulsions. Source: Yonhap News Agency