Progressive Jinbo Party Kang Sung-hee Wins 39.07% of Votes to Represent Jeonju District 2, Jeollabuk-do in the National Assembly

Kang Sung-hee, the Jinbo Party candidate, celebrates with his supporters after securing his victory in the by-election for the legislator of Jeonju District 2 (eul), Jeollabuk-do in his campaign office on April 6. Courtesy of Kang Sung-hee’s Election Campaign

On April 5, Kang Sung-hee, a candidate from the Jinbo (progressive) Party, was elected as the legislator representing Jeonju District 2 (eul), Jeollabuk-do in the only by-election held nationwide.

Kang defeated the independent candidate Rym Chung-yeap, who obtained 32.11% (14,288) of the votes, with 39.07% (17,382) of the votes after all the ballots were counted on April 6. An Hae-wuk, another independent candidate who raised the so-called “Julie allegation” claiming that first lady Kim Keon-hee once worked in a bar came in third with 10.14% (4,515) of the votes.

Unlike initial expectations of a close race between Kang and Rym, the Jinbo Party candidate kept a steady lead 7-8% ahead of his opponent as authorities began counting the votes all the way till the end, to secure a sure win.

Shortly after he was elected, Kang shared his thoughts and said, “It is a great victory of the citizens of Jeonju, who accepted a new politics and the sincerity that the Jinbo Party and Kang Sung-hee have wanted to convey for months.” He also said, “I believe Jeonju citizens demonstrated the desire to pass judgment on the prosecutorial dictatorship of Yoon Suk-yeol and the aspiration for new politics through Kang Sung-hee of the Jinbo Party.”

He continued and said, “I will engrave in my heart the great choice made by the people in the center of political reforms and stand up to and defeat the prosecutorial dictatorship by uniting the progressive pro-democracy forces.” He also shared his plans to thoroughly prepare for parliamentary affairs, since his term will start immediately.

The latest by-election was held after former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik lost his seat in the National Assembly for violating the Public Official Election Act. Thus, the Democratic Party of Korea, which provided the cause for the by-election, did not put forth a candidate. The Justice Party also failed to nominate a candidate after a strong contender abandoned the bid due to personal reasons.

The Jinbo Party was unable to stand in solidarity with the Justice Party, but it did manage to stand together with the Jeollabuk-do office of the Green Party on policies, giving the appearance of the progressive opposition standing behind a single candidate. They reached out to the hearts of the people at the bottom of society and succeeded in putting the only legislator from the Jinbo Party into the National Assembly.

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) had its leadership including leader Kim Gi-hyeon display support for the PPP candidate Kim Gyeong-min to help raise his low support, but Kim came in fifth. In the latest election, missing the Democratic Party, the public sentiment against Yoon Suk-yeol that had also turned away from the Democratic Party appears to have determined the outcome.

Kang, who graduated from the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, was a former leader of a labor union who established a union for non-regular workers at the Hyundai Motor Company Jeonju plant in 2003. He worked to have their status changed to regular workers. He served as the secretary-general of the Jeollabuk-do branch of the National Courier Union until recently. Kang worked to lower loan interest rates at Jeonbuk Bank when he was chief of the Lower Loan Rates Campaign Headquarters.