Kwon Oh-eul

Kwon Oh-eul
권오을
Minister of Veterans Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office TBA
President	Lee Jae-myung
Member of the National Assembly
In office 1996–2008
Constituency	Andong
Personal details
Born	1957 (age 67–68) Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea
Political party	Bareunmirae Party (formerly Grand National Party, Unified Democratic Party)
Alma mater	Korea University Graduate School of Public Administration, Korea University
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Public administrator, policy expert
Korean name
Hangul	권오을
Hanja	權五乙
RR	Gwon Oeul
MR	Kwŏn Oŭl

Kwon Oh-eul (Korean: 권오을; born 1957) is a South Korean politician and former three-term member of the National Assembly, representing Andong in North Gyeongsang Province. A former Secretary General of the legislature, he has held key roles in both conservative and centrist parties. In 2025, he was nominated as the first Minister of Veterans Affairs under President Lee Jae-myung.

Early life and education

Kwon Oh-eul was born in 1957 in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province (then Gyeongsangbuk-do), South Korea. He graduated from Gyeongbuk High School and earned a degree in political science and diplomacy from Korea University. He later received a master’s degree in economic development from the Graduate School of Public Administration at the same university.

Career

Kwon Oh-eul began his political career in local government, serving as a member of the 4th Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Council from 1991 to 1995.

In the 15th general election, he was elected to the National Assembly as a representative of Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, under the United Democratic Party. He served from May 1996 to May 2000. During this term, he held several key roles, including party spokesperson (October 1996 – September 1997) and member of the Special Committee on Budget Settlement of the National Assembly (September 1998 – May 2001). In November 1997, he was appointed Chairman of the Grand National Party's (GNP) Andong District Party, and from December 1998 to May 2001, he served as Special Advisor to GNP President Lee Hoi-chang.

Reelected in 2000, Kwon served in the 16th National Assembly (May 2000 – May 2004) as a GNP lawmaker for Andong. He was Secretary of the party’s Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (May 2000 – June 2001), Chairman of the GNP Planning Committee (May – December 2001), and a member of the National Assembly’s Culture and Tourism Committee (July 2002 – May 2003).

In the 2004 elections, Kwon secured a third consecutive term as representative of Andong in the 17th National Assembly (May 2004 – May 2008). During this period, he served on the Administration and Autonomy Committee (July 2004 – May 2006), chaired the GNP Special Committee on Political Reform (June 2004 – January 2006), and chaired the National Assembly’s Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (June 2006 – May 2008).

Following his legislative career, he became a visiting professor in the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at Yeungnam University (November 2009 – June 2010), and later served as Secretary-General of the National Assembly from June 2010 to December 2011. In 2012, he co-founded the Forum Today and began teaching as a visiting professor at Daegu Catholic University.

In 2014, Kwon served as general manager for the "Kim Moo-sung Must-Be" presidential campaign team and was later appointed Chairman of the Saenuri Party’s Talent Recruitment Committee in August of that year.

During the realignment of the South Korean right-wing in 2017, Kwon served as Chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Party of the Bareun Party (January 2017 – February 2018) and was a member of the party’s Supreme Council from June to November 2017. He continued his role as Chairman of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Party after the merger that formed the Bareunmirae Party in February 2018 and concurrently served as Joint Regional Chairperson, Acting Chairman, and Regional Chairman for Andong.

From April 2023 to April 2025, Kwon served as an ex-officio director of the Constitutional Association of Korea. In April 2025, he joined the Democratic Party of Korea and was appointed Co-Chairman of the Grand National Unity Committee under the Republic of Korea's national election task force, serving until June 2025.

Minister of Veterans Affairs

In June 2025, President Lee Jae-myung nominated Kwon Oh-eul as the inaugural Minister of the newly established Ministry of Veterans Affairs. A three-term lawmaker with a background in the conservative opposition, Kwon was previously vice chairman of the Korean Association of Constitutional Law and served in the National Assembly under both the Unified Democratic Party and the Grand National Party, representing Andong. He also held the position of Secretary General of the legislature during his time in office.