Chung was born in Gongju and attended Sungdong High School, before going on to Korea University to study political science and diplomacy.

He joined the now-defunct Alliance of Liberal Democrats (ALDE) in 1999, and before entering parliament worked as the party spokesperson.

After his re-election as an MP in the 2020 election, he was a potential Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly by the United Future Party, but he refused the bid.

[9][3] It was also there where he organised a massive anti-US protest after it was disclosed that the intelligence of the Jimmy Carter administration were bugging the Blue House.

[3] After the graduation in 1979, Chung studied political science and diplomacy at Korea University,[5][11] where he met his wife, Lee Mi-ho.

[12] After completing his political science and diplomacy degree, Chung joined Hankook Ilbo, where he worked as a journalist and an editorial writer for about 15 years.

[13][3][4][5][11] In the mid-1990s, Chung took crucial roles as a Washington, D.C. correspondent;[3][4][5] in 1994, he flew to Port-au-Prince, Haiti in order to report the situation of a civil war.

[23] Amid the 10-cornered fight, Chung barely elected to the National Assembly with approximately 25.2%; this made him as the winner with the lowest votes.

[24][25] The ruling DJP Alliance consisted of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) and the Alliance of Liberal Democrats (ALDE) narrowly lost to the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) amid internal conflicts between the ruling coalition.

[26][30] Despite his effort, the DJP Alliance finally broke up on 3 September 2001 after the ALDE voted in favour of a motion of no-confidence against the Minister of Unification Lim Dong-won.

[32][33] In 2004, the National Assembly voted for the impeachment of Roh Moo-hyun following his remarks that supporting the then de facto ruling Uri Party.

[35] The event, however, provoked a widespread anger among the people, which let the Uri Party to win the majority (152 out of 300 seats) at the 2004 election.

[42] By the time he withdrew from the ALDE, Chung was widely speculated to join the proposed Hoseo-based localist conservative party, projected by the Governor of South Chungcheong Shim Dae-pyung and the Mayor of Daejeon Yŏm Hong-ch'ŏl;[43][44] Yŏm instead joined the Uri Party.

[48][49][50] Shim Dae-pyung and Shin Kook-hwan was elected co-presidents,[48][49][50] while Chung was appointed parliamentary leader the following day.

[69][70] The GNP was undergoing internal conflicts between pro-Lee Myung-bak and pro-Park Geun-hye faction over several issues, including the construction of Sejong City.

[75][76] He also coordinated a project to make Park as the Lee's special envoy to Netherlands, Portugal and Greece in April 2011.

[88][89][90][91] On 27 December, shortly after Park Geun-hye was elected President, Chung was nominated Secretary-General of the National Assembly.

[95] He oversaw several parliamentary reforms, including the establishment of suicide prevention facilities at the National Assembly Secretariat,[96][97] as well as changing its temporary workers into full-time.

[116] The Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which was often regarded as the de facto "Senate",[117][118] was taken by the Democratic during the last session (2012-2016), but was handed over to the Saenuri in this time.

[119][120][121][122] The President Park Geun-hye was under public pressure to resign following a report of JTBC about Choi Soon-sil on 24 October.

"[129][130] On 10 March 2017, the Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Park Geun-hye in a unanimous 8–0 decision,[131][132] which provoked the snap presidential election on 9 May.

[149] When Suh Byung-soo declined the bid, Chung was likely to be the sole candidate from the United Future Party (UFP).

[150][151] However, Chung rejected the deputy speakership on 29 June in a protest of the Democratic Party's decision to dominate the entire committees of the National Assembly.

[170][171][172][173] On 15 June 2018, following a crushing defeat of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) at the 2018 local elections, Chung replied to a reporter's question, saying, "We were fully sunken like MV Sewol.

On 21 June 2020, Chung's elder daughter married the eldest son of Park Duk-hyum, the MP for Boeun-Okcheon-Yeongdong-Goesan, at a hotel in Gwangjin, Seoul.

[191] Despite his active involvement in politics and close ties with influential figures, Chung Jin-suk is known for maintaining a life grounded in introspection and simplicity.

Those close to him often remark on his quiet demeanor and thoughtful approach to both personal and professional matters, qualities that hint at his deep-rooted Buddhist philosophy.