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Jasmine Bacurnay Lee

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"Jasmine B. Lee" redirects here. For other people, see Jasmine Lee (disambiguation).
Lee Jasmine
이자스민
Jasmine Bacurnay Lee
자스민 바쿠어나이 이
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 Jan 2024
ConstituencyProportional Representation №9
In office
30 May 2012 – 29 May 2016
ConstituencyProportional Representation №15
Personal details
Born
Jasmine Villanueva Bacurnay

(1977-01-06) January 6, 1977 (age 47)
Manila, Philippines
Political partyJustice Party
(2019 ~ )
Other political
affiliations		Liberty Korea Party
(until 2019)
Spouse
Lee Dong-ho
​
​
(m. 1995; died 2010)​
Children
  • Lee Seung-geun (son)
  • Lee Seung-yeon (daughter)
Alma materAteneo de Davao University
OccupationActress, TV Host, Civil Servant
Korean name
Hangul
이자스민
Hanja
李자스민
Revised RomanizationI Jaseumin
McCune–ReischauerI Chasŭmin

Jasmine Bacurnay Lee (born Jasmine Bacurnay y Villanueva; January 6, 1977) is a South Korean television personality, actress and civil servant. Elected as a proportional representative in South Korea's National Assembly in 2012, she is the first non-ethnic Korean and naturalized South Korean to become a lawmaker.[1]

Early life and education

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Jasmine met South Korean mariner Lee Dong-ho in Davao del Norte when she was still a college student majoring in biology at Ateneo de Davao University in 1994. They got married and first visited South Korea in 1995 and finally united in 1996. They have two children, a son Lee Seung-geun and a daughter Lee Seung-yeon. She became a naturalized South Korean in 1998. Her husband died of a heart attack in 2010 while saving their daughter from drowning in a whirlpool in a mountain stream in Okcheon, Gangwon while on a family vacation.[2]

Career

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Since 2006, she has been a panelist on the KBS program "Love in Asia" and has also appeared on a Korean language program on educational channel EBS.[3][4]

As an actress, she played the role of the mother of lead actor Yoo Ah-in in the highly acclaimed 2011 film Punch which drew 5.3 million viewers. She also appeared in the 2010 film Secret Reunion.

In January 2012, Lee became the first Filipino to receive the Korea Image Millstone Award from the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI). She was cited for her volunteer and charity works for foreign immigrants in South Korea.[5] An advocate of multiculturalism in South Korea, she regularly gives lectures about the subject to teachers and student leaders.

She is the secretary general of Waterdrop, a charity formed by foreign spouses of South Koreans, and worked at the Foreign Residents Assistance Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.[6]

On April 11, 2012, she was elected as a proportional representative in South Korea's National Assembly election following her party's majority victory in the polls held. With her win, she made history in South Korea as the first Filipina and naturalized South Korean to become a lawmaker. Lee's win was a result of the victory of the ruling Saenuri Party, to which she belongs.[1][7]

Lee was excluded from the party's list for the 2016 election[8] and left office on May 29, 2016. Lee left the Saenuri Party after the 2016 election. She returned to politics in 2020 ahead of the 2020 South Korean legislative election as a candidate for the Justice Party.

Lee was once again elected to Parliament on 25 January 2024 after the resignation of MP Lee Eun-ju.[9] Not only is Lee the first ethnic minority lawmaker in Korean history, but Lee is the first parliamentarian in Korean history to switch from a conservative to progressive party and be re-elected. Lee's inauguration ceremony was held in the Justice Party Press Room of the National Assembly on 1 February 2024.[10]

Criticism

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Since the 2012 election, Lee has been hit by charges of misrepresenting her education, after claiming on national television to have attended medical school in the Philippines when in fact she had simply taken biology classes during college.[11]

Some South Koreans engaged in racist criticism of Lee, stating that she was not a "true" South Korean due to being from the Philippines.[12][13][14][15] One South Korean spoke out against the racist behavior of Lee's critics, stating that South Koreans were more concerned about engaging in racist vitriol against politicians, whereas in other countries, people were more concerned about a politician's professional qualifications.[16]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jasmine B. Lee.
  1. ^ a b Hicap, Jonathan (2012-04-12). "Filipino Jasmine Lee makes history, wins in South Korea election". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  2. ^ "Tragedy fails to shake Filipina's belief in Korea". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2012-04-16. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  3. ^ "Jasmine Lee Speaks Out for Foreign Wives". Buhaykorea.com. 2011-03-31. Retrieved 2012-05-21.
  4. ^ "A Shining Example for Foreign Wives in Korea". The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  5. ^ "Filipina wins Korea Image award in Seoul". ABS-CBN News. 2011-12-21.
  6. ^ Philippine envoy says community feels pride in Jasmine Lee. The Korea Times 2012-04-23.
  7. ^ Kang In-sik, Heo Jin (2012-01-31). "Jasmine Lee might be groomed for another run". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 2013-03-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. ^ ""제2의 이자스민 기대했지만…" 아쉬운 이주민들" (in Korean). Yonhap News. 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  9. ^ "결혼이주자 이자스민, 새누리당 이어 정의당에서 재선의원 되다". 25 January 2024.
  10. ^ "양경규 국회의원, 이자스민 국회의원 등원 인사".
  11. ^ "Naturalized candidate hit for lying on school record". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2014-04-29. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  12. ^ "Jasmine Lee Faces Racial Abuse After Election Win". The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  13. ^ "Filipina Candidate in Korea Criticized". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  14. ^ Hicap, Jonathan (2012-04-18). "Xenophobic netizens attack Jasmine Lee". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14.
  15. ^ Garcia, Cathy Rose A. (2012-04-17). "Jasmine Lee faces 'racist' attacks from Korean netizens". ABS-CBN News.
  16. ^ Lee, Ha-won (2012-04-17). "Korean Xenophobia Betrays Double Standards". The Chosun Ilbo.
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