천정배
Human rights lawyer; 57th Minister of Justice; six-term lawmaker
| Life | 1954 |
| Era | 대한민국 |
| Clan | 영양 천씨 |
Life & career
Cheon Jeong-bae was born on 12 December 1954 on Amtae Island, Sinan, South Jeolla, the eldest of two sons and three daughters, a politician and lawyer of the Yeongyang Cheon clan. He grew up in Mokpo, graduated from Mokpo High School in 1972 as the overall top student, graduated from Seoul National University's law college in 1976 and passed the 18th bar examination that year.
In 1981 he worked as an international lawyer at Kim and Chang, and in 1985 opened the Namdaemun joint law office with the lawyer Jo Yeong-rae, working as a human rights lawyer. He was a founding member of Lawyers for a Democratic Society in 1988, chaired its international human rights committee, and defended cases such as the singer Jeong Tae-chun's case (leading to the ruling against prior review of records) and the Gyeongsang National University textbook case (acquitted).
He was elected to the National Assembly six times: the 15th and 16th (Ansan Eul), 17th and 18th (Ansan Danwon Gap) and 19th and 20th (Gwangju Seo-gu Eul). He was floor leader of the Uri Party and served as the 57th Minister of Justice from 29 June 2005 to 26 July 2006. He has been in several parties and was co-chair of the People's Party. As he is living, only his public career is described.
Human Rights Lawyer
Cheon Jeong-bae opened a law office with Jo Yeong-rae and took part in Lawyers for a Democratic Society. In the Jeong Tae-chun case he is said to have led to the ruling that prior review of records is unconstitutional.
Assembly and Parties
Elected six times, he worked in Ansan and Gwangju. His career across many parties, from the National Congress for New Politics onward, is set out in detail on Wikipedia.