In Kwon's early years worked at Daehan Ilbo (대한일보; 大韓日報) and Seoul Shinmun as a journalist and newsman.

[1] In 1996 and 1997 he was Chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU, 전국민주노동조합총연맹; 全國民主勞動組合總聯盟).

He was the President of left-wing Democratic Labour Party, and was a member of the 17th and 18th National Assembly.

After losing his bid for the governorship of the South Gyeongsang Province in 2012, and in the midst of the political scandal in the broader progressive movement in South Korea, Kwon declared his intention to retire from the frontline party politics.

Kwon urged people to vote for the Justice Party in the 2016 South Korean legislative election, and actively supported Sim Sang-jung's candidacy in the 2017 South Korean presidential election.