Ahn Gwi-ryeong

In this Korean name, the family name is Ahn.

Ahn Gwi-ryeong
안귀령
Ahn Gwi-ryeong in 2023
Chairperson of the Seoul Dobong District 1 Regional Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 2024
Preceded byIn Jae-keun
Personal details
Born (1989-06-01) June 1, 1989
Gyeongju, South Korea
PartyDemocratic Party of Korea
EducationEwha Womans University (BA)
OccupationJournalist, Politician
WebsiteInstagram
Korean name
Hangul
안귀령
RRAn Gwiryeong
MRAn Kwiryŏng

Ahn Gwi-ryeong (Korean: 안귀령; born June 1, 1989) is a South Korean politician and former news anchor for the Korean broadcasting company YTN. She transitioned into politics and ran in the 2024 South Korean legislative election as the candidate for the Korean Democratic Party in the Dobong A constituency but was defeated. She is currently serving as the Deputy Spokesperson of the Democratic Party.[1]

During the 2024 South Korean martial law crisis, Ahn Gwi-ryeong was photographed confronting and attempting to wrestle a service rifle from a martial law soldier during the protest against President Yoon Suk Yeol's effort to blockade the National Assembly. She subsequently participated in the impeachment movement against President Yoon.[2]

Career

Ahn Gwi-ryeong began her career as an announcer at Gwangju Broadcasting in 2014 before joining YTN as an announcer in April 2016. In January 2022, she resigned from YTN and transitioned into politics, joining the election campaign committee of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, where she served as a spokesperson.

In the 2024 South Korean legislative election, Ahn received a strategic nomination to run in the Seoul Dobong District 1 constituency.[3] However, she was defeated, securing 47.89% of the vote and finishing in second place.[4]

On January 18, 2024, the broadcasting journalists' unions for JTBC and the National Union of Media Workers released a public statement criticizing Ahn and Lee Jeong-heon for leaving journalism to join the Democratic Party. The statement argued that such actions constituted a breach of professional ethics.[5]

Ahead of the 2024 South Korean legislative election, incumbent In Jae-keun announced that she would not be running for re-election in the Dobong A constituency.[6][1]

On February 23, 2024, the Democratic Party nominated former YTN anchor Ahn Gwi-ryeong as its candidate for Dobong A.[7]

Despite the constituency's historical preference for Democratic Party candidates and its predecessor parties, Ahn narrowly lost to Kim Jae-sub of the conservative People Power Party.[8][9]

Kim's victory was notable, as he was one of only three People Power Party candidates to win in Seoul constituencies north of the Han River.[10]

In November 2024, Ahn Gwi-ryeong was fined 700,000 Korean won for violating the Public Official Election Act.[11]

During the declaration of martial law in 2024, Ahn Gwi-ryeong arrived at the National Assembly building around 23:00.[12] She was later seen trying to seize an assault rifle from a soldier before the latter pointed it at her briefly, prompting her to berate the soldier, saying "Aren't you ashamed?" as he walked away.[13] However, individual soldiers were not issued live ammunition,[14] with many of the soldiers utilizing non-lethal simulation training rounds.[15] She later told BBC Korean Service that "I didn't think… I just knew we had to stop this."[12] The video was captured by a live stream by online newscaster OhmyNews.[16] Shortly afterward, the clip received 1.2 million views on YouTube.[17] The video then went viral online.[18] She told Reuters: "I think that the people have already psychologically impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol," Ahn said. "Who could trust a president declaring martial law almost like a child playing games or entrust the nation to such leadership?"[17] A still from the video the incident was selected by the BBC as one of the most striking images of 2024.[19] The BBC compared one still of the video to a painting of Joan of Arc by artist John Gilbert.[20] In early 2025, videos surfaced showing additional scenes of the struggle. In one particular scene, she is seen struggling with a soldier, attempting to seize control of his rifle. Another soldier is seen to then attempt to defuse the situation, by removing her hands grabbing the sling of the rifle. Despite this, she immediately grabbed the sling again, a move that garnered criticism for unnecessarily escalating the situation.[21] Later in 2025, Ahn filed a police defamation complaint against Commander Kim Hyun-tae of the 707th Special Missions Group, Republic of Korea Special Forces, as he testified that the situation in which she had struggled with the soldier's rifle in the famous image had been artificial.[22] Commander Kim was responsible for leading the 707th into the National Assembly during the martial law crisis, and testified under oath as a witness in the trial of former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, stating, “The soldiers said that Ahn brought along large bodyguards and even prepared makeup right before filming. The soldiers felt very wronged about that.” Ahn's legal representative responded that, “Due to former Commander Kim’s remarks, Ahn has been portrayed as a politician who ‘politically exploited the insurrection situation’ or a person who ‘deceived the public,’” adding, “Her social reputation and honor, built as a journalist and spokesperson, have been severely damaged.”

References

  1. ^ a b Jung, Min-kyung (February 27, 2024). "Why Cha Eun-woo's name keeps popping up in politics". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on July 8, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  2. ^ ""An Gwi-ryeong, Who Grabbed a Martial Law Soldier's Gun: 'The People Power Party Should Participate in the Impeachment Vote'"". CBS Uncut News. December 6, 2024.
  3. ^ Jung Hye-jung (February 2, 2024). ""Rather than Cha Eun-woo, Lee Jae-myung"… An Gwi-ryeong's Ideal Type Revisited".
  4. ^ Jang Bo-in (April 11, 2024). ""An Gwi-ryeong Loses Election"". Yonhap News Agency.
  5. ^ "Ethics questioned of 2 TV journalists for joining election camp". The Korea Times. January 19, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  6. ^ 여, 서울·제주·광주 25명 단수 공천…민주 인재근 불출마. 연합뉴스TV (in Korean). February 14, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  7. ^ 김, 은지 (February 23, 2024). 민주당, 양승조·안귀령·유동철 전략공천…서대문갑 '슈퍼스타K' 방식 청년공천한다. Dailian (in Korean). Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  8. ^ 이, 두리 (April 11, 2024). 김재섭, 험지서 '차은우보다…' 안귀령 꺾어. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  9. ^ 민주 텃밭서 안귀령·류삼영·이지은 낙선... "친명에 경고 사인". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). April 11, 2024. Archived from the original on April 18, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  10. ^ '뒤집힌 출구조사' 나경원·조정훈 생환…도봉갑 김재섭도 '깜짝승' [4.10 총선]. 이투데이 (in Korean). April 11, 2024. Archived from the original on April 11, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  11. ^ "Ahn Gwi-ryeong, spokesman of the Democratic Party of Korea, fined 700,000 won for violating the Public Official Election Act". YTN. November 25, 2024. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  12. ^ a b Ku, Yuna (December 4, 2024). "South Korea martial law: Fearless woman grabs soldier's gun". BBC News. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  13. ^ Rising, David (December 4, 2024). "6 hours of anger, bravery and defiance as martial law imposition played out in South Korea". ABC News. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  14. ^ Haye-ah, Lee (December 6, 2024). "Army special warfare commander says he defied order to drag out lawmakers | Yonhap News Agency". Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on March 30, 2025. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
  15. ^ Korea Defense Blog (December 4, 2024). "6) It appears at least parts of the 707's weapons were fitted with blue bolt carrying groups and magazines for non-lethal simunition training rounds. Unlikely this was the case for all troops, as these training devices aren't common outside units like the 707th". X. Retrieved January 10, 2026.
  16. ^ "Watch a woman try to grab a soldier's gun amid turmoil in South Korea". CTVNews. December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Kim, Jisoo (December 5, 2024). "Korean party spokesperson who grappled with martial law soldier insists she is not special".
  18. ^ Zeris, Henry (December 4, 2024). Lawmaker tussles with soldier outside South Korean parliament | CNN. Retrieved December 5, 2024 – via www.cnn.com.
  19. ^ "Opposition DPK spokesperson featured in BBC's most striking images of 2024". The Korea Times. December 23, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2025.
  20. ^ Kelly Grovier (December 20, 2024). ""Olympic Surfer to Donald Trump: 12 of the Most Striking Images of 2024"".
  21. ^ niselove01 (January 23, 2025). "당시 안귀령의 행동을 반대각도에서 찍은 영상인데". X. Retrieved January 10, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ Daily, The Chosun (December 16, 2025). "Ahn Gwi-ryeong Sues Over Staged Rifle Seizure". The Chosun Daily (in Korean). Retrieved January 10, 2026.
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