Yang Hyang-ja

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Yang Hyang-ja (born April 4, 1967) is a South Korean politician and former Samsung executive. She represented Gwangju in the National Assembly from 2020 to 2024 and started the Hope of Korea party in 2023. She was the first woman to lead the National Human Resource Management Institute from 2018 to 2019.

Early life and Samsung career
Yang was born in Hwasun, South Jeolla. She joined Samsung Electronics as a young employee and spent more than 30 years working in memory semiconductors. In 2014 she became Samsung’s first female executive in flash memory development. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Cyber University of Korea in 2005 and a master’s degree from Sungkyunkwan University in 2008 while working. She was recruited into politics by Moon Jae-in in 2015.

Political career
Yang began her political career with the Democratic Party in 2016, running for the Gwangju seat but losing. She served on the party’s Supreme Council for two years. In 2018 she became president of the National Human Resource Management Institute, the first woman to lead the agency, and she stepped down in 2019 to prepare for the 2020 election.

In 2020 she won a National Assembly seat representing Gwangju Seo B, defeating six-term incumbent Chun Jung-bae, and she served until 2024. She rejoined the party’s Supreme Council in September 2020 and was named co-deputy chair of the K-New Deal Committee and head of the economy and livelihoods task force.

Controversy and later activities
In July 2021, Yang was expelled from the Democratic Party over how she handled a sexual misconduct accusation involving a relative at her regional office.

In 2023 she launched her own party, Hope of Korea. In 2025 she joined the People Power Party and ran in its presidential primary, but she did not win. She has also published a biography titled Fly Towards Dream Beyond Dream, Hyang-ja.