Chung Bong-ju was born in Nohae-myeon, Yangju, Gyeonggi (now Gongneung-dong, Nowon District, Seoul) in 1960.

[1] He also studied at Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), advised by his father,[5] but was suspended from the institution for organising a demonstration in 1983.

[7] Following the graduation, Chung briefly worked at Monthly Mal, the magazine of the Citizens' Coalition for Democratic Media.

[9] During the presidential election in 2007, Chung criticised Lee Myung-bak, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Grand National Party (now United Future Party) who was later elected, bringing up controversies,[10] mainly BBK stock price manipulation incident.

[17] At prison, he was put in solitary confinement, which he described as "too small" till unable to stretch his two arms, as well as only left 30 centimetres from head and feet when he laid down to sleep.

Despite consecutive defeats for the Democratic Unionist Party at the general and presidential elections, he urged his supporters to not be frustrated.

[1] On 7 February 2018, Chung announced to join the Democratic Party to launch his bid for Seoul mayorship at the upcoming local elections.

[20] He scheduled to officially declare on 7 March at Gyeongui Line Forest Park,[21] but on that day, he postponed it following a report of Pressian that he molested a female university student.

[24] On the other hand, on 6 December 2019, Yonhap News reported that the Democratic Party had already approved his application request on 28 November.

[26] He soon launched his bid to run for Seoul Gangseo 1st constituency for 2020 election[27] but was disqualified by the party due to controversies.

[30] After the article was widely shared in South Korean society, he subsequently denied the sexual harassment while accepting the truth that both of them went to the hotel.

[33][34] On 12 March 2018, Chung castigated the Pressian's article as a "lie"[35] and the next day, he filed a lawsuit against journalists who reported the case.

[24] The prosecution demanded an imprisonment of 10 months and a penalty of 2 million KRW (≒ 1,300 GBP),[38] although he was acquitted at the first trial on 25 October 2019.