Yang Hyang-ja facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Yang Hyang-ja
양향자
Yang in 2025
President of National Human Resource Management Institute
In office 31 August 2018 – 1 August 2019
President	Moon Jae-in
Prime Minister	Lee Nak-yeon
Preceded by	Oh Dong-ho
Succeeded by	Park Chun-ran
Member of the National Assembly
In office 30 May 2020 – 10 April 2024
Preceded by	Chun Jung-bae
Succeeded by	Lee Sang-sik
Constituency	Gwangju Seo B
Personal details
Born	(1967-04-04) 4 April 1967 (age 58) Hwasun County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea
Political party	PPP (since 2025)
Other political affiliations	DPK (2016–2021) Independent (2021–2023) HoK (2023–2024) RP (2024–2025)
Alma mater	Cyber University of Korea Sungkyunkwan University
Signature

Yang Hyang-ja (Hangul: 양향자; Hanja: 梁香子; born 4 April 1967) is a South Korean politician. She was also a top executive at Samsung Electronics. From 2020 to 2024, she served as a member of the National Assembly, representing the city of Gwangju. She was a member of the Democratic Party before starting her own political group, the Hope of Korea party, in 2023.

Before becoming a politician, Yang Hyang-ja led the National Human Resource Management Institute (NHI). This was part of the Ministry of Personnel Management under President Moon Jae-in. She held this important role from 2018 to 2019. She was the first woman to be in charge of the Institute since it began in the 1960s.

Early Career at Samsung

Yang Hyang-ja started working at Samsung Electronics when she was 18 years old. She joined the company right after finishing Gwangju Girls' Commercial High School. Her first job was helping researchers who worked on semiconductor memory chips.

She worked in departments related to memory semiconductors for over 30 years. In 2014, she was promoted to an executive position. She became a leader in developing flash memory. This was a big achievement because she was the first woman to become an executive in that area without a university degree when she started. She also achieved this promotion a year earlier than her colleagues.

While working at Samsung, Yang Hyang-ja continued her education. She earned a bachelor's degree in 2005 from Cyber University of Korea. This university was co-founded by Samsung. Later, in 2008, she completed her master's degree from Sungkyunkwan University, which also works closely with Samsung.

Yang Hyang-ja's Political Journey

Yang Hyang-ja began her political career in late 2015. She was asked to join politics by Moon Jae-in, who was then a party leader. She left her job at Samsung in December 2015 to focus on politics.

In 2016, she officially became a member of the Democratic Party. She ran for election in the Gwangju area but did not win that time. Even after losing, she stayed committed to her political work. She was chosen as one of five members of the party's Supreme Council for two years.

In August 2018, she resigned from the Supreme Council to become the president of the NHI. After leading the NHI for a year, she stepped down in 2019 to prepare for the 2020 election.

Becoming a National Assembly Member

In the 2020 general election, Yang Hyang-ja won her seat in the National Assembly. She defeated a long-serving politician, Chun Jung-bae. She was the only woman representing a district in the Honam region at that time. In August 2020, she rejoined the Supreme Council of her party.

In September 2020, the new leader of her party, Lee Nak-yon, appointed her as a co-deputy chair. This role was for the party's K-New Deal Committee. She also led the party's task force focused on the economy and people's daily lives.

In July 2021, Yang Hyang-ja left the Democratic Party. This happened after concerns arose about how she handled a situation in her office. An employee had reported a problem involving a relative who also worked there.

Founding Hope of Korea Party

In June 2023, Yang Hyang-ja announced that she was starting her own political party. This new party is called Hope of Korea. She has also spoken about the United States' policies regarding the semiconductor industry.

In 2025, Yang Hyang-ja sought to become a candidate for president. She ran in the primary election for the People Power Party. However, she did not win the primary election.

Electoral History

Yang Hyang-ja has participated in several elections. Here is a summary of her results:

Published Works

Yang Hyang-ja's life story is told in her biography. The book is titled Fly Towards Dream Beyond Dream, Hyang-ja.