Kweon Seong-dong (; born 29 April 1960) is a South Korean lawyer and politician. A member of the People Power Party, he served as the member of the National Assembly for Gangneung from 2009 to 2026.
Before entering politics, Kweon worked as a prosecutor and lawyer at various prosecution offices and the Ministry of Justice. He made his political debut at the 2009 Gangneung by-election which he won with about 51% of popular votes. He made himself known through his role at the 2016 political scandal, which led to the impeachment of Park Geun-hye.
Kweon has held several high-ranking leadership positions within his party. He served as the floor leader of the People Power Party in 2022 and again from 2024 to 2025. Additionally, he has stepped in as the party's acting leader on four separate occasions: twice in 2022, once in December 2024, and most recently in May 2025. He also previously served as the secretary-general for both the People Power Party and its predecessor, the Saenuri Party.
In January 2026, Kweon was convicted of taking bribes from the Unification Church and sentenced to two years in prison. On July 16, 2026, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction, which resulted in his removal from political office.
Early life and education Kweon was born in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, South Korea in 1960. He is the eldest of the three sons and a daughter of a housewife and Kweon Seung-ohk (died in 2022), was an educator and the former Director of Gangneung Myeongnyun Institution. He attended before joining Chung-Ang University, where he studied law.
Career Although Kweon participated in anti-dictatorship movements in 1980, he chose to prepare for the bar instead of continuing his activism as he did not agree with "radical changes". He was qualified for the bar in 1985.
Shortly after completing national service, he began his prosecutor career at Suwon District Prosecutor's Office in March 1991, where he worked till transferred to Gangneung branch of Chuncheon District Public Prosecutors Office in September 1993. He then moved to Seoul, where he worked at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the Ministry of Justice, Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Offices, and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, between 1994 and 2000, and again between 2003 and 2005. His prosecutor career came to the end at Gwangju High Prosecutor's Office in 2006. He then briefly worked as a lawyer at Sojong Partners.
While he was working at the Ministry of Justice in 1999, Kweon made a draft of the National Human Rights Commission Act that was later submitted to the National Assembly. The bill was, however, scrapped by the then ruling party, Millennium Democratic Party (MDP), who instead established the National Human Rights Commission based on the demand of left-leaning non-governmental organisations (NGO). This made him to join politics.
Politics In the 2008 election, Kweon made an unsuccessful attempt to contest for Gangneung under the Grand National Party (GNP) banner.
On 8 April 2022, Kweon was elected parliamentary leader of the People Power Party, defeating Cho Hae-jin.
On 7 May 2025, Kweon went on a hunger strike as part of efforts to pressure the PPP into committing to a common candidate for the 2025 South Korean presidential election. This followed inconclusive negotiations between PPP candidate Kim Moon-soo and independent candidate Han Duck-soo. On 11 September 2025, the National Assembly approved a motion to arrest Kweon on charges of bribery from the Unification Church. On 17 September, the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant against him.
In January 2026, Kweon was convicted of taking bribes from the Unification Church. The conviction was upheld by the Seoul High Court and the Supreme Court. He was given a two-year jail term and ordered to forfeit the sum he received. His conviction resulted in his removal from political office.
Election results Year Elections Constituency Political party Votes (%) Remarks 2009 2009 By-election Gangneung(Gangwon) GNP 34,834 (50.90%) Won 2012 19th National Assembly General Election Gangneung (Gangwon) Saenuri 57,444 (60.78%) Won 2016 20th National Assembly General Election Gangneung (Gangwon) Saenuri 54,359 (57.15%) Won 2020 21st National Assembly General Election Gangneung (Gangwon) Independent 49,618 (40.84%) Won 2024 22nd National Assembly General Election Gangneung (Gangwon) People Power 64,743 (54.24%) Won
References
External links Official website Kweon Seong-dong on Facebook