[Politics, That Day...] Park Young-sun, First Female Floor Leader, and Party Leader Ahn Cheol-soo of That Time

Park Young-sun, Acting Role After Ahn Cheol-soo's 2014 Resignation...
Reunited as Pre-candidates from Both Parties in the 2021 Seoul Mayoral Race for a 'Fateful Showdown'

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min]

Editor's Note‘Politics, That Day...’ is a series planning corner that looks back on Korean politics through the ‘recollection of memories’ related to scenes, events, or figures that deserve attention.

In politics, there are no eternal enemies or eternal allies. Yesterday's ally can become tomorrow's enemy, and yesterday's enemy can become tomorrow's ally. There are those preparing for a fateful showdown in the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election, the biggest ‘election event’ of this year. They are politician Park Young-sun and politician Ahn Cheol-soo.

Politician Park Young-sun is known as the first female floor leader in the history of negotiation groups. On May 8, 2014, she made new history by winning the fierce floor leader race of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy. At that time, the competition for the floor leader position of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy was intense. An interesting point was the lineup of competitors at that time.

Among them were then lawmaker Noh Young-min, who later served as Chief of Staff at the Blue House under the Moon Jae-in administration, current Blue House Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Choi Jae-sung, and Lee Jong-gul, better known as a descendant of independence activists, all competing for the floor leader position.

A fierce battle went to a runoff vote. Lawmaker Park Young-sun received 69 votes in the runoff, while lawmaker Noh Young-min received 59 votes. Park Young-sun surpassed Noh Young-min by gaining balanced support from various factions.

Former Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun is declaring her candidacy for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 26th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Politician Noh Young-min, who was Moon Jae-in’s presidential campaign chief of staff in 2012 and symbolically known as the leader of the Minpyeongryeon faction, had to give up his dream of becoming floor leader. At the time when the first female floor leader of a negotiation group was born, politician Ahn Cheol-soo was serving as the party leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy. The party was under the joint leadership of Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil.

Meeting as party leader and floor leader, politician Ahn Cheol-soo and Park Young-sun, did they expect that seven years later they would compete for the Seoul mayor’s seat from the positions of opposition and ruling parties respectively? 2014 was a special year in many ways for politicians Ahn Cheol-soo and Park Young-sun.

After the defeat in the July 30, 2014 by-election, Ahn Cheol-soo took responsibility and resigned from the position of party leader of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy the day after the election. This happened just four months after forming the Ahn Cheol-soo-Kim Han-gil joint leadership through a merger.

After Ahn Cheol-soo stepped down, the power vacuum was filled by politician Park Young-sun. According to party rules, Park Young-sun, as floor leader, took on the role of acting party leader and emergency committee chairperson of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Seven years ago, politicians Ahn Cheol-soo and Park Young-sun walked toward the same goal, but now they are divided as opposition and ruling parties. They are preparing for a ‘special showdown’ this year. Their situations differ slightly. Politician Ahn Cheol-soo has effectively reserved the People’s Party nomination for Seoul mayor. Politician Park Young-sun is preparing to face off against lawmaker Woo Sang-ho in the Democratic Party’s primary for the Seoul mayoral candidacy.

Both still have a long way to go to achieve the goal of winning the Seoul mayoral election. Politician Park Young-sun must pass the party primary, and politician Ahn Cheol-soo faces the challenging hurdle of unifying the opposition by agreeing on a single candidate with the People Power Party nominee.

If elected mayor of Seoul, it could become the most important turning point in their political careers. Politician Ahn Cheol-soo could dream of playing a leading role in Korean politics beyond Seoul, and politician Park Young-sun could advance toward her ‘big dreams’ with a vertical rise in political value.

Will the winner’s announcement on April 7 belong to one of these two? Or will both be content with congratulating someone else’s victory? Their results (primary and general election) add another factor that raises interest in the Seoul mayoral by-election.

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