Jin Kwang So was born in Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do. He received a master's degree in urban planning and a doctorate in public administration from Seoul National University's Graduate School of Environment. After working as a professor at the Local Administration Training Institute, he moved to Kyungwon University (currently Gachon University) in 1990 and is currently serving as an emeritus professor in the Department of Public Administration. He served as the dean of the School of Law at Kyungwon University and the dean of the Graduate School of Social Policy. He served as the vice president of the Korean Association for Public Administration, the 14th president of the Korean Regional Development Association, and the 11th president of the Korean Association for Local Government Studies, and served as a consultant to the Korean government and international organizations. He has been involved in Korea's foreign aid projects for over 20 years and has performed evaluation and feasibility work on aid projects for developing countries. In particular, while serving as the 23rd president of the Korea Saemaul Undong Center, he formed the Saemaul Undong Global League (SGL), which currently has 46 member states.