'AI Aide' Ha Jungwoo and 'The President's Voice' Jeon Eunsoo Near Decision on June 3 By-election Bids

Decision Looms for Busan Buk-gap and Asan-eul Races
This Week Marks the Final Call Ahead of May 4 Resignation Deadline
Ha Jungwoo: "My thoughts change morning and evening"... Jeon Eunsoo: "Grateful to be mentioned"

Ha Jungwoo, Senior Secretary for AI Future Planning at the Presidential Office and a key aide in the Lee Jaemyung administration, along with spokesperson Jeon Eunsu, are expected to finalize their decisions this week on whether to run in the June 3 parliamentary by-elections. If they decide to run, Ha is a leading contender for Busan Buk-gap, while Jeon is likely to be nominated for Asan-eul in South Chungcheong Province.

Ha Jungwoo, Senior Secretary for AI Future Planning at the Presidential Office, is speaking at the Cabinet meeting held on the 9th at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to the Public Official Election Act, public officials wishing to run in the by-elections, which will be held simultaneously with the June 3 local elections, must resign by May 4, which is 30 days before the election. Considering the candidate registration and election preparation procedures, this week is effectively the deadline for their decisions, according to both the Presidential Office and the ruling party. An official from the Presidential Office said on the 27th, "Since this week is virtually the last opportunity, only their individual decisions remain."

Ha is being discussed as a potential candidate in the Busan Buk-gap by-election, which became vacant after Jeon Jae-soo, the Democratic Party’s candidate for Busan mayor, resigned from the National Assembly. In the 2024 general election, Busan Buk-gap was the only constituency among Busan’s 18 districts where the Democratic Party won. For the Democratic Party, it is both a strategic region that must be defended and, with former People Power Party leader Han Donghoon running as an independent and former Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Minsik preparing to run for the People Power Party, the area has emerged as the most fiercely contested battleground in this by-election.

The Democratic Party leadership is making significant efforts to recruit Ha. Party leader Jeong Cheongrae has publicly expressed his desire for Ha to run, and Jeon Jae-soo has repeatedly mentioned Ha as his preferred successor for the constituency. Jeon also highlighted that Ha is his junior from Gudeok High School in Busan, saying, "I look forward to the emergence of a new generation with a new approach, attitude, and mindset." During the Busan on-site Supreme Council meeting, they even used the expression "we love you," publicly showing their support.

Recently, Ha appears to have stepped back from his previously firm stance of declining. He stated that he would focus on successfully completing important duties ahead of President Lee’s state visits to India and Vietnam, and after returning, he would think deeply and make a decision, then announce the result. He added, "My thoughts change from morning to night." In an interview with MBC’s YouTube channel, he said, "I realized that ultimately, this is a personal matter, not a decision as a presidential aide." This suggests his intention to make the candidacy decision a matter of personal political determination.

Born in Busan in 1977, Ha attended Sasang Elementary School, Sasang Middle School, and Gudeok High School before graduating from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Seoul National University. He earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in computer science from the graduate school of Seoul National University and is recognized as a leading private-sector AI expert, having worked at Samsung SDS and Naver. He has served as the head of Naver AI LAB and director of the Naver Cloud AI Innovation Center. Under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, he was chair of the AI/Data subcommittee of the Digital Platform Government Committee and led the super-scale public AI task force. Upon the launch of the Lee Jaemyung administration, he was appointed as the newly established Senior Secretary for AI Future Planning, becoming a core aide in realizing the vision of making Korea one of the top three global powers in AI.

Eunsu Jeon, the newly appointed spokesperson, is giving a briefing on measures to alleviate public transportation congestion during commuting hours at the Blue House Press Hall on April 3, 2026. Photo by Yonhap News.

Jeon Eunsu is being considered as a candidate for Asan-eul in South Chungcheong Province, the former constituency of Kang Hoonshik, the Chief Presidential Secretary. Initially, there were rumors of her being nominated for Ulsan Nam-gu-gap, as a by-election was expected due to Kim Sangwook’s bid for Ulsan mayor. However, as the Democratic Party announced its plan to strategically nominate lawyer Jeon Taejin for Ulsan Nam-gu-gap, Jeon’s name became more closely linked with Asan-eul in South Chungcheong Province, which was Kang Hoonshik’s constituency.

Jeon has minimized her responses regarding her candidacy. On April 8, during an SBS radio interview when asked about the possibility of running in Ulsan Nam-gu-gap, she said, "I have just been promoted to spokesperson, and the warmth of the approval stamp has not faded yet," adding, "I will focus on working hard for the success of the Lee Jaemyung administration." On April 20, in a YTN radio interview, when asked about the possibility of being nominated in the Chungcheong region, she replied, "I am very grateful just to be mentioned as a potential candidate."

Born in Busan in 1984, Jeon grew up in Ulsan from the age of two. She graduated from Taehwa Elementary School, Hakseong Girls’ Middle School, and Wooshin High School in Ulsan, then studied elementary education at Gongju National University of Education and worked as an elementary school teacher in Daejeon. She later entered the law school at Pusan National University, passing the 4th national bar exam. In Ulsan, she worked as a lawyer and served as a board member of the Ulsan Bar Association, a public representative of the Ulsan Regional Labor Relations Commission, a board member of the Ulsan Women’s Family Development Institute, a standing member of the Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification, a vice president of the Korea Public Institutions Auditors Association, and a standing auditor at the Korea Energy Agency.

She entered politics as the Democratic Party’s seventh recruited talent ahead of the 2024 general election. She ran in Ulsan Nam-gu-gap against Kim Sangwook, then the People Power Party candidate, but was not elected. Subsequently, she served as a nominated Supreme Council member of the Democratic Party, and, after the launch of the Lee Jaemyung administration, was appointed deputy spokesperson for the Presidential Office. On April 1, she was promoted to spokesperson, raising her rank from senior administrative officer to secretary. Both inside and outside the Presidential Office, she has been praised for her outstanding interpersonal skills and for delivering the President’s message quickly and accurately, earning the symbolic title of "the President’s mouthpiece."

The ruling party’s interest in both candidates is rooted in both the "Presidential Office aide premium" and the image of generational change. Ha brings symbolic value as an "AI expert" representing future industries, while Jeon offers appeal as a teacher, lawyer, and female politician. For the Democratic Party, the by-elections are not just local contests but a midterm evaluation of the Lee Jaemyung administration’s governance, and they need a strong card to elevate the stakes.

However, there are also significant concerns. Ha is a core aide responsible for designing the current administration’s AI policy. There are worries that, amid the Middle East war, supply chain instability, and technological hegemony competition, the continuity of AI policy could be compromised, resulting in "national losses." Jeon, meanwhile, has been in her new position for less than a month. If both Ha and Jeon decide to run, the trend of deploying Presidential Office aides to the forefront of elections after the launch of the Lee Jaemyung administration will become even more pronounced. Conversely, if they choose to remain, the Democratic Party will need to find alternative candidates for Busan Buk-gap and Asan-eul in South Chungcheong Province.

Kim Namjoon, spokesperson, is briefing on the Cabinet meeting held on the day at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul on December 2, 2025. Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, Kim Namjoon, former spokesperson for the Presidential Office, who worked closely with President Lee for over 10 years as his "voice," has been confirmed as the Democratic Party candidate for the by-election in Incheon Gyeyang-eul, President Lee’s constituency. Kim Namguk, a member of the so-called "Group of Seven" and former Secretary for Digital Communication at the Presidential Office, is aiming to run in Ansan-gap, Gyeonggi Province.

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