12 Facts About Kim Han-gil

Kim Han-gil is a South Korean politician, journalist and writer.

Kim Han-gil served as the 15th, 17th and 19th National Assembly member of the Republic of Korea and the Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Kim Han-gil became active in the National Congress for New Politics in 1996, and remained a member of the main liberal party under its various names until 2016.

Kim Han-gil served as Minister of Culture and Tourism from 2000 to 2001, undertaking a highly publicized trip to North Korea on 10 March 2001, ostensibly to discuss tourism and culture arrangements.

Kim Han-gil became a member of the National Assembly in 1996, but lost his seat in 2008.

Kim Han-gil returned to the Assembly in the 2012 elections, and became chairman of the Democratic Party in 2013.

On 3 January 2016, after Ahn had left the NPAD's successor, the Minjoo Party of Korea, Kim Han-gil announced that he was leaving the Minjoo Party to join Ahn as a founding member of the new People's Party.

In March, in the lead-up to the 2016 legislative elections, Kim Han-gil fell into dispute with Ahn over the need for an electoral alliance with the Minjoo Party.

Kim Han-gil nonetheless welcomed the results of the election, which were positive for the People's Party, stating that the day for a regime change was not far away.

Kim Han-gil did not take active part when the People's Party joined the Bareun Mirae Party as it merged with the Bareun Party.

Kim Han-gil got one lung removed and was unconscious for two weeks after the operation.

Kim Han-gil is known for his "acerbic" remarks: in 2007 he labelled English teachers in Korea "white trash", and he criticized President Park Geun-hye for giving speeches in foreign languages overseas.