Yoon Young-chan, Han Byung-do, Go Min-jung, Yoon Gun-young... 30 Former Moon Jae-in Government Blue House Officials Run, 19 Elected

Gominjeong, who was elected as the 21st National Assembly member for Gwangjin-eul, Seoul, is moving on the afternoon of the 16th near Norunsan Market in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, to greet supporters.
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[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Jin-young] Among the 30 former Blue House aides from the Moon Jae-in administration who ran in the April 15 general election, 19 succeeded in entering the National Assembly.

Riding on the halo effect of President Moon, whose approval rating reached 57% (Korea Gallup, April 7-8 survey), those elected are expected to serve as a bridge between the ruling party and the Blue House, becoming strong allies of President Moon.

While past presidents struggled with declining control over state affairs in their later terms, President Moon has been able to strengthen his grip on the ruling party and the National Assembly through the large-scale election of aides who supported him at the Blue House.

According to the Central Election Commission on the 16th, there were 30 candidates from the current Blue House: 28 from the Democratic Party and 2 from the Open Democratic Party.

By rank, there were 4 senior secretaries, 13 secretaries, and 13 administrative officers.

All four senior secretaries were elected.

Yoon Young-chan, the Democratic Party candidate elected in the 21st National Assembly general election for Jungwon, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, is taking a commemorative photo with his wife Kim Mi-kyung at the election office on the 15th.
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Political newcomer Yoon Young-chan, who ran for public office for the first time, defeated Shin Sang-jin, a Future United Party candidate who had served four consecutive terms in Seongnam Jungwon, Gyeonggi Province.

Yoon, who left the Blue House last January and had been cultivating a voter base in Jungwon, comfortably defeated Shin with 65,947 votes (54.6%) to Shin’s 50,315 votes (41.6%).

Former Job Secretary Jeong Tae-ho succeeded in entering the National Assembly on his third contest against Future United Party candidate Oh Shin-hwan in Seoul Gwanak-eul.

Jeong won decisively with 72,531 votes (53.9%) against Oh’s 56,130 votes (41.7%).

Former Civil Society Secretary Lee Yong-seon also secured a seat after his third attempt in Yangcheon-eul, Seoul.

Lee previously ran in Yangcheon-eul as a Democratic United Party candidate in 2012 and as a Democratic Party candidate in 2016 but lost to Kim Yong-tae of the Saenuri Party.

In this general election, Kim Yong-tae, who had served three terms in Yangcheon-eul, moved his constituency to Guro-eul, Seoul, and Lee faced political newcomer Son Young-taek of the United Party.

Lee won with 66,859 votes (57.5%) against Son’s 47,897 votes (41.2%).

Former Political Secretary Han Byung-do, who ran in Iksan-eul, Jeonbuk, achieved a landslide victory in a rematch against Jo Bae-sook of the Minsheng Party.

Han received 56,982 votes (72.5%), while Jo, who was aiming for a fifth term, garnered only 12,302 votes (15.6%).

Han was first elected in Iksan-gap, Jeonbuk, in the 17th general election in 2004 as a candidate of the Uri Party and succeeded in his second term after three attempts and four tries.

Han had previously run in Iksan-eul in the last general election but lost to Jo.

Former spokesperson Ko Min-jung was strategically nominated in Seoul Gwangjin-eul, where Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae had served five terms, and caused an upset by defeating Oh Se-hoon, a presidential hopeful from the United Party.

Ko won with 54,210 votes (50.3%) against Oh’s 51,464 votes (47.8%), a margin of 2,746 votes (2.5 percentage points).

On the afternoon of the 15th, Yoon Geon-young, the Democratic Party candidate running for Guro-eul in Seoul, received a bouquet and removed his mask as his victory became certain at the election office in Guro-dong.
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Yoon Gun-young, former head of the National Planning and Situation Office and known as "President Moon’s right-hand man," was also strategically nominated in Seoul Guro-eul, where Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun had served three consecutive terms, and won easily.

The United Party fielded Kim Yong-tae, who had served three terms in Yangcheon-eul, as a "mercenary candidate" to oppose Yoon, but Kim was no match for Yoon.

Yoon secured 56,065 votes (57.0%) against Kim’s 37,018 votes (37.6%), winning by a margin of about 19,000 votes.

Former Social Policy Secretary Min Hyung-bae was elected in Gwangsan-eul, Gwangju, with the highest vote share nationwide.

Min received 96,808 votes, accounting for 84.05% of all valid votes.

This was attributed to the fact that the incumbent lawmaker Kwon Eun-hee ran as a proportional representative for the Minsheng Party, leaving the seat open, and Min’s personal competitiveness overwhelmingly surpassed other candidates.

Min has a solid local base, having served as mayor of Gwangsan District during the 5th and 6th local government terms, and was well-known in the constituency as he served as the Blue House Social Policy Secretary until just before running.

Former Political Planning Secretary Jin Sung-jun, who served as a proportional representative in the 19th National Assembly, was elected in Gangseo-eul, Seoul, after a second attempt.

Former Agriculture and Fisheries Secretary Shin Jeong-hoon, who was elected in a 2014 by-election in Naju-Hwasun, also succeeded in his re-election bid in the same area after losing in the 20th general election.

Former Civil Affairs Secretary Kim Young-bae, who served twice as mayor of Seongbuk District, won in Seongbuk-gap and will enter the National Assembly.

Choi Kang-wook, former Public Service Discipline Secretary, ran as number 2 on the Open Democratic Party’s proportional representation list and was elected as the party was allocated three seats based on the party vote results.

Among administrative officers, eight former officers including Park Young-soon, who ran in Daedeok, Daejeon, as well as Moon Jeong-bok (Siheung-gap, Gyeonggi), Lee Jang-seop (Cheongju Heungdeok, Chungbuk), Lee Won-taek (Gimje-Buan, Jeonbuk), Han Jun-ho (Goyang-eul, Gyeonggi), Yoon Young-duk (Dong-gu Nam-gu-gap, Gwangju), Kim Seung-won (Suwon-gap, Gyeonggi), and Park Sang-hyuk (Gimpo-eul, Gyeonggi) reported victories.

Park Young-soon, a former administrative officer, tasted the joy of election for the first time after nine attempts at elected office, starting with running for a metropolitan councilor in 1995.

However, former spokesperson Park Soo-hyun (Gongju-Buyeo-Cheongyang, Chungnam), who was the first spokesperson of the Moon Jae-in administration, as well as former Political Secretary Bok Ki-wang (Asan-gap, Chungnam) and former Local Autonomy Secretary Na So-yeol (Boryeong-Seocheon, Chungnam), who challenged in the Chungcheong region, were narrowly defeated.

Former Agriculture and Fisheries Secretary Choi Jae-gwan also ran in the conservative stronghold of Yeoju-Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi, but suffered defeat.

Former spokesperson Kim Eui-gyeom moved to the Open Democratic Party and was placed fourth on the proportional representation list but failed to enter the National Assembly.

Among other administrative officer candidates, Oh Jung-gi (Pohang Buk-gu, Gyeongbuk), Heo So (Dalseo-eul, Daegu), Nam Young-hee (Dong-gu, Michuhol-eul, Incheon), Kim Tae-seon (Dong-gu, Ulsan), and Park Nam-hyun (Changwon Masanhappo, Gyeongnam) were defeated.

In particular, candidate Nam Young-hee lost by the narrowest margin nationwide, just 171 votes (0.15%), after a neck-and-neck race against independent elected member Yoon Sang-hyun.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.