Choi Jong-won

Choi Jong-won is a South Korean actor and politician. Choi began his acting career in theater, then made his screen debut in 1978 and became known as a veteran actor of stage, film and television of over forty years. He won Best Supporting Actor at the Grand Bell Awards in 1995 for the Joseon-era period drama The Eternal Empire.
Choi entered politics in 2004, when he ran and lost in the 2004 [South Korean legislative election|17th National Assembly elections] as an Uri Party candidate. He ran again in the by-elections on July 28, 2010, under the Democratic Party, where he won as the lawmaker representing Gangwon Province in the 2008 South [Korean legislative election|18th] National Assembly, succeeding Lee Kwang-jae who resigned to run for the Gangwon governorship. On September 16, 2010, Choi was elected as the head of DP's Gangwon provincial chapter.