Cho Soon

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Cho Soon

| image = 조순 박사.jpg

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1 February 1928

| birth_place = Jumunjin, Kōgen Province, Korea, Empire of Japan

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2022|06|23|1928|02|01}}

| death_place = Seoul, South Korea

| other_names =

| occupation = Professor

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works =

| alma_mater = Seoul National University
University of California, Berkeley

| party = Grand National
Democratic People's

| office = Mayor of Seoul

| term_start = 1 July 1995

| term_end = 9 September 1997

| predecessor = Choi Byung-ryeol

| successor = Goh Kun

| office1 = Governor of the Bank of Korea

| term_start1 = 26 March 1992

| term_end1 = 14 March 1993

| predecessor1 = Kim Kun

| successor1 = Kim Myung-ho

| office2 = Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea

| president2 = Roh Tae-woo

| primeminister2 = Kang Young-hoon

| term_start2 = 5 December 1988

| term_end2 = 17 March 1990

| predecessor2 = Rha Woong-bae

| successor2 = Lee Seung-yoon

}}

Cho Soon ({{langx|ko|조순}}; 1 February 1928 – 23 June 2022) was a South Korean politician who was the first publicly elected mayor of Seoul, serving from 1995 to 1997. Previously, he held office as the deputy prime minister of South Korea from 1988 to 1990 and as the governor of the Bank of Korea from 1992 to 1993.{{cite web|url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220623002000315|title=Ex-Deputy Prime Minister Cho Soon dies of natural causes at 94|date=23 June 2022 |access-date=2023-02-28}}

Life

Cho Soon was born on February 1, 1928 in Jumunjin, Kōgen Province, Korea, Empire of Japan. He graduated from Seoul National University in 1949 and earned a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.

As a member of the Grand National Party and later the Democratic People's Party, he held many political positions throughout his life.

Cho became Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of South Korea under President Roh Tae-woo. He was succeeded in the position by Lee Seung-yoon in 1990. In 1992, he became the Governor of the Bank of Korea, a position he left a year later. In 1995, he ran for Mayor of Seoul, winning the race decisively with 42.4% of the vote. He assumed the office on July 1, 1995,{{cite web|url=https://www.seoul.go.kr/seoul/mayor.do|script-title=ko:역대서울시|language=Korean}} becoming the first elected mayor of the city. Cho later served in the National Assembly from 1998 to 2000.{{cite web|url=https://rokps.or.kr/profile/profile_view.asp?idx=259|script-title=ko:조순(趙淳)|work=Republic of Korea Parliamentarian Society|language=Korean}}

He died in Seoul on 23 June 2022 of natural causes at the age of 94.{{cite news |last=Park|first=Jong-oh|date=23 June 2022|script-title=ko:조순 전 경제부총리 노환으로 별세…향년 94

|trans-title= |url=https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/economy/economy_general/1048170.html|language=Korean|work=The Hankyoreh|location= |access-date=23 June 2022}}