Bae Jae-jung

{{short description|South Korean politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| native_name = {{nobold|배재정}}

| alma_mater = Busan National University

| office = Secretary to the President for Political Affairs

| termstart = 1 September 2020

| termend = 20 June 2021

| predecessor = Kim Gwang-jin

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|2|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Busan, South Korea

| blank1 = Religion

| data1 = Roman Catholicism

| party = democratic

| office1 = Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister

| termstart1 = 12 June 2017

| termend1 = 5 November 2018

| office2 = Member of the National Assembly

| predecessor1 = Shim Oh-taek

| constituency2 = proportional representation

| primeminister1 = Lee Nak-yeon

| successor1 = Joung Wun-hyun

| president = Moon Jae-in

| termstart2 = 30 May 2012

| termend2 = 29 May 2016

| successor = Kim Han-kyu

}}

{{family name hatnote|Bae||lang=Korean}}

Bae Jae-jung ({{Korean|hangul=배재정|hanja=裵在禎}}; born 16 February 1968) is a South Korean politician previously served as the Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon's first chief of staff. She is the first woman to lead the Prime Minister's Secretariat (PMS) since its creation in 1960s.{{Cite web|url=http://www.opm.go.kr/opm/office/past_opc02.do|script-title=ko:역대실장|language=ko|trans-title=List of Chief of Staff to PM}}

Bae is one-term parliamentarian of now-ruling party, Democratic Party of Korea. During her term from 2012 to 2016, she took various roles in her party such as a member of Emergency Planning Commission in 2013, a spokesperson from 2013 to 2014 and vice-chair of Policy Committee from 2014 to 2015. Additionally, she worked as the deputy chief of staff to Moon Jae-in's first presidential campaign in 2012.

After then-parliamentarian Moon Jae-in was elected as the party leader and therefore announced that he will not seek for re-election in 2016 general election, she was chosen as a democratic candidate to replace him at the National Assembly. Unfortunately, she lost the election by less than 2,000 votes.

After serving as the chief of staff to Lee Nak-yeon, the first Prime Minister of President Moon Jae-in, she ran for the same constituency in the 2020 general election{{Cite web|date=2018-11-02|script-title=ko:배재정 국무총리 비서실장, 21대 총선 준비 위해 사임|url=http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/politics/politics_general/868575.html|access-date=2020-08-31|website=The Hankyoreh|language=ko}} but lost again.{{Cite web|script-title=ko:[선택 2020] 부산남자 장제원, 배재정 꺾고 3선 고지 우뚝|url=http://m.newspim.com/news/view/20200414001093|access-date=2020-08-31|website=NewsPim|language=ko}} In September 2020 she was brought back to the administration now serving as the President's secretary for political affairs.{{Cite web|date=2020-08-31|script-title=ko:청와대 비서관급 인사…배재정·김광진·윤재관 등 6명|url=http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/politics/bluehouse/960015.html|access-date=2020-08-31|website=The Hankyoreh|language=ko}}

Before entering politics, she worked as a Busan Ilbo's journalist for almost two decades from 1989 to 2007 and a ranking member of its trade union.{{Cite news|url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20170611044551001|script-title=ko:첫 여성 총리비서실장에 배재정 전 의원 임명(종합)|language=ko|trans-title=First female PM's chief secretary Bae Jae-jung ex-MP appointed}}

Bae holds a bachelor's degree in English language and literature and completed master's programme in arts, culture and videography from Busan National University in 1990 and 2012 respectively.