[21st National Assembly New Figure] 'Presidential Candidate' Defeated by 'President's Voice' Go Min-jung: "I Will Become a Politician of Communication"

Gominjeong, who was elected as the 21st National Assembly member for Seoul Gwangjin-eul, is moving near Norunsan Market in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul on the 16th to greet supporters.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Jin-young] Among the 300 elected members of the 21st National Assembly, 151 are first-term lawmakers entering the Assembly for the first time. More than half of the total seats in the National Assembly are filled with new faces. We are starting the ‘21st National Assembly New Faces’ series, introducing the first-term lawmakers of the 21st National Assembly and sharing their aspirations.

Ko Min-jung, the Democratic Party candidate who defeated ‘presidential hopeful’ Oh Se-hoon of the United Future Party in Seoul Gwangjin District B in the 21st general election, stated, “I will become a politician of communication.”

In a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 27th, Ko said in response to the question, “What kind of lawmaker do you want to be?” “The most common message I heard during the election was ‘Don’t fight among yourselves, but listen to our voices.’”

Ko, a former Blue House spokesperson, said, “I learned politics from President Moon Jae-in, and what he does best is empathy and communication,” adding, “I will do as I have learned.”

Ko won with 54,210 votes (50.3%), beating Oh who received 51,464 votes (47.8%) by a margin of 2,746 votes (2.5 percentage points).

Having officially entered politics only two months ago after receiving a strategic nomination from the Democratic Party in February, the political newcomer became the unexpected victor who toppled the opposition’s presidential hopeful who had served as mayor of Seoul.

Gwangjin District B is a Democratic stronghold where Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae was elected five times, but Oh’s strength, having long cultivated a voter base in this area, was formidable.

Ko said, “I knew it was a close race,” adding, “Polls showed a very tight contest, so I felt like I was walking on thin ice and couldn’t let my guard down for a moment throughout the race.”

On the first day of official campaigning, former Presidential Chief of Staff Lim Jong-seok and Yang Jeong-cheol, head of the Democratic Research Institute, came to Gwangjin District B to campaign, which was based on this analysis of the situation.

He said, “If I had been ahead by more than 10 percentage points, it wouldn’t have been necessary, but since it was a close race, I called them first, and both readily agreed.”

The Democratic Party launched an all-out effort to ensure Ko’s victory in Gwangjin District B, where the election was unpredictable.

On the 13th, two days before the election, Democratic Party floor leader Lee In-young said at a rally supporting Ko at Konkuk University Station in Gwangjin District, Seoul, “If you elect Ko, I and the Democratic Party will do our utmost to provide emergency disaster relief funds to 100% of the people.”

He also said, “If Ko is elected, the residents of Gwangjin District will be the happiest, and President Moon Jae-in will be pleased as well.”

When asked about the standing committee he hopes to join in the National Assembly, he said, “I am still considering.”

He added, “Since I mainly worked on summit meetings at the Blue House, I would like to work in the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, and because there are many small and medium-sized business owners in my constituency, I also want to join the Industry, Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Venture Businesses Committee. Since I am a former journalist, I am also thinking about joining the Future Creation, Science, Broadcasting and Communications Committee.”

Ko graduated from Bundang High School and Kyung Hee University and joined KBS as a public recruitment announcer.

He was personally recruited by President Moon Jae-in in February 2017 during the Democratic Party presidential primary.

With the launch of the Moon Jae-in administration, he was appointed deputy spokesperson of the Blue House and was promoted to spokesperson in April last year.

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