Jasmine Bacurnay Lee

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]

"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
In office
30 May 2012 – 29 May 2016
ConstituencyProportional Representation №15
Personal details
Born
Jasmine Villanueva Bacurnay

(1977-01-06) January 6, 1977
Manila, Philippines
Political partyJustice Party
(2019 ~ )
Other political
affiliations		Liberty Korea Party
(until 2019)
Spouse(s)
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
Hanja
李자스민
Revised RomanizationI Jaseumin
McCune–ReischauerYi Chasŭmin

Early life and education

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] Lee has been living with her parents-in-law and seven other family members of her late husband ever since.

Career

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.

Criticism

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.[9] Some South Koreans engaged in racist criticism of Lee, stating that she was not a "true" South Korean due to being from the Philippines.[10][11][12][13] 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.[14]

References
  1. 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.
  8. ""제2의 이자스민 기대했지만…" 아쉬운 이주민들" (in Korean). Yonhap News. 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  9. "Naturalized candidate hit for lying on school record". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on 2014-04-29. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  10. "Jasmine Lee Faces Racial Abuse After Election Win". The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  11. "Filipina Candidate in Korea Criticized". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  12. Hicap, Jonathan (2012-04-18). "Xenophobic netizens attack Jasmine Lee". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14.
  13. Garcia, Cathy Rose A. (2012-04-17). "Jasmine Lee faces 'racist' attacks from Korean netizens". ABS-CBN News.
  14. Lee, Ha-won (2012-04-17). "Korean Xenophobia Betrays Double Standards". The Chosun Ilbo.
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