Two Korean-Descendant District Councilors Elected in English Local Elections

Assemblywoman Kwon Bora [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Two Korean-British district councilors were elected in the UK local elections held on the 5th (local time).

Kwon Bora (43), running as a member of the UK’s main opposition party, the Labour Party, in the Hammersmith area of West London, was re-elected as a Councillor. In the College Park and Old Oak constituency, which elects three members, Kwon received 1,194 votes and was listed among the winners along with two other Labour Party candidates.

Councillor Kwon was first elected in 2018 as the first Korean-British to win, and has now succeeded in re-election. She is a 1.5-generation immigrant who came to the UK at age four with her father, who was a Korean company expatriate, and settled there.

She graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) with a degree in Philosophy and Psychology, worked as a journalist, spent two years in Korea as a native language teacher, and is currently active in a non-governmental organization (NGO) supporting women’s advancement in senior positions in the European investment industry. UK district councilors generally hold their council positions alongside their main jobs.

Park Ok-jin (Liberal Democrats) was also elected as a district councilor in the Old Malden constituency in the southwestern outskirts of London’s Kingston area.

Although it is an area with a high density of Korean residents, this is the first time a Korean-British district councilor has been elected. The area had strong Conservative Party support but shifted to the Liberal Democrats after 12 years.

In this election, a total of five Korean-British candidates ran.

In Manchester, a Labour stronghold, Park Ji-hyun and Jo Guk-seong (Timothy Jo), both originally from North Korea, ran again last year as Conservative Party candidates but were defeated. In New Malden Village, which has a Korean town, Kim Dong-sung ran as a Liberal Democrat candidate, but the election was postponed due to the withdrawal of other candidates.

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