Kim Woong (Korean: 김웅, born 5 May 1970) is a South Korean prosecutor and politician. A member of the People Power Party (PPP), he is has served as the member of the National Assembly for Songpa's 1st constituency since 2020.

He joined politics as a member of the New Conservative Party (NCP), one of the predecessors to the PPP. Prior to entering politics, he was a vocal critic against the Moon Jae-in-led Democratic government's prosecution politics.

After qualifying for the bar in 1997, Kim started his career at Incheon District Prosecutor's Office in 2000.^[1]

He was appointed the Head of Future Planning and Criminal Policy at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office by the former Prosecutor General Mun Mu-il in July 2018.^[2] When the Moon Jae-in-led Democratic government was considering an adjustment of investigation power between the police and the prosecution — removing the jurisdiction over investigation from the prosecution while providing a right to terminate an investigation to the police, Moon Moo-il harshly criticised it as "undemocratic".^[2] Kim, who advocated Moon Moo-il's opinion, appeared on various media.^[2] After Moon Moo-il was replaced by Yoon Seok-youl, Kim was shunted off to a professor at the Institute of Justice.^[2][3] Not only him, but also some other critics.^[3]

On 13 January 2020, the National Assembly voted in favour of the amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act, and the Public Prosecutor's Office Act; the votes were boycotted by the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP).^[4] Kim condemned the decision and submitted his resignation letter the following day.^[5][6] He urged the other prosecutors to "disobey those feudal orders, we are democratic citizens."^[5][6]

On 4 February 2020, Kim joined the New Conservative Party (NCP), a day after his resignation was accepted.^[1][7][8] He was the first person brought into the party prior to the 2020 election.^[1][8] The day, he said, "I'm good at cracking crooks. I will crack the crook cartel at the zenith of this Republic of Crooks."^[1][8] He also mentioned that he is willing to cooperate with the LKP.^[8]

The party was soon merged into the United Future Party (UFP).^[9] Kim requested the party that he wanted to contest for Songpa 1st constituency, rather than as a proportional representation.^[10] He was subsequently confirmed as the UFP candidate for the constituency,^[11] after the then incumbent Park In-sook decided to not seek for re-election.^[12] In the election, Kim successfully defeated the Democratic candidate Cho Jai-hee, although his party suffered a crushing defeat.^[13] Among the 10 Suncheon-born MPs, Kim is the sole MP from the opposition, whereas 9 others are from the government.^[14]

Following the outright victory of the People Power Party (PPP) in the 2021 by-elections, an opinion poll has shown that Kim is the 2nd most (11.3%) favourable candidate for the party presidency, next to Joo Ho-young (16.6%), prior to the upcoming party leadership election.^[15][16] Being a first-term MP, the outcome was described as "unexpected".^[15] Several sources have suggested possibilities he will form an alliance with Kim Chong-in and Lee Jun-seok.^[17] On 13 May, Kim officially made an announcement to run for the party leadership election.^[18][19] However, he was eliminated on 28 May.^[20][21][22]

Kim was born in Suncheon, South Jeolla in 1970.^[1] He attended Suncheon High School, and then studied politics at Seoul National University.^[1][7] He has an acquaintance with the former interim President of the Democratic Party Kim Tae-nyeon, who is a senior graduated from same high school.^[23][24]

He is the author of Diary of a Prosecutor, which was remade as a drama aired on JTBC.^[1][7][2][3]

He was exempted from the national service for undergoing a lobectomy.^[25][26]

He is a Roman Catholic.^[27]

• Kim Woong on Facebook