'Brotherly Bond' Min Hyung-bae Elected in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju - Kim Young-bae Elected in Seongbuk-gap, Seoul with Overwhelming Margin

Published 19 Apr.2020 11:58(KST)

Updated 27 Apr.2020 22:18(KST)

Min Hyung-bae Elected in Gwangsan with Nationwide Highest Vote Share (84%) for 21st National Assembly... Kim Young-bae Elected in Seongbuk-gap Achieves Highest Vote Share (60.9%) Among Seoul Democratic Party Freshmen... Both Former Secretaries in Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in Governments and Close Allies Who Collaborated on Local Autonomy During Local Government Tenure... Expected to Continue Efforts to Strengthen Local Autonomy in 21st National Assembly

Min Hyung-bae, the elected member of the National Assembly for Gwangsan District in Gwangju, is smiling brightly as the vote count broadcast shows him significantly ahead of his opponent.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Min Hyung-bae, elected as the National Assembly member for Gwangsan-eul, Gwangju, and Kim Young-bae, elected as the National Assembly member for Seongbuk-gap, Seoul, both won their seats in the 21st general election.

Both candidates ran in this general election, with Min winning by the highest nationwide vote share (84.05%).

Additionally, Kim Young-bae won by a margin of 24% (33,227 votes) over his opponent. Notably, he achieved the highest vote share (60.9%) among first-term Democratic Party candidates running in Seoul.

Thus, these two winners demonstrated their strength by winning with overwhelming vote margins that left their opponents no chance, making them ‘promising figures of the 21st National Assembly.’

Min Hyung-bae graduated from the Department of Sociology at Chonnam National University and worked as a dismissed reporter covering Jeonnam Provincial Office at Jeonnam Ilbo. During the Roh Moo-hyun administration, he engaged in local autonomy activities and was appointed to serve as an administrative officer and secretary in the participatory government.

He was later elected as the mayor of Gwangsan District in the 5th local election, gaining nationwide attention as a grassroots leader focusing on resident participation and cooperation.

After completing his term in the 6th local election, he returned to the Moon Jae-in administration’s Blue House, serving as Secretary for Local Autonomy and Decentralization and Secretary for Social Policy, recognized by both the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in governments.

In particular, during his tenure as Secretary for Local Autonomy and Decentralization, he drafted a revision bill for the Local Autonomy Act to significantly support local self-government, but it failed to pass the National Assembly due to opposition from the then-opposition party.

He also ran in the party primary for the Gwangju mayoral election in the recent local elections.

On the other hand, Kim Young-bae, a former student council president at Korea University’s College of Political Science and Economics, gained experience in district administration as the chief secretary to the mayor of Seongbuk District during the 1st local election. He then served as the event planning secretary at the Blue House under President Roh Moo-hyun, organizing the historic inter-Korean summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim Jong-il, Chairman of the North Korean National Defense Commission.

Later, he won the party primary against Ki Dong-min, a two-term National Assembly member for Seongbuk-gap, to become mayor of Seongbuk District in the 5th local election. He served two terms until the 6th local election, consistently promoting policies to strengthen village autonomy, even authoring a book titled "There is a Nation Within the Village," leading nationwide policy initiatives.

Kim Young-bae, the elected member of the National Assembly for Seongbuk-gap, Seoul (far left), is cheering and raising his hand high as his election is confirmed.

He boldly gave up a third-term bid for mayor of Seongbuk District and returned to the Moon Jae-in administration’s Blue House, serving as Secretary for Social Policy and Secretary for Civil Affairs, reflecting President Moon’s strong trust in him.

During the party primary for this general election, Kim faced accusations from his opponent but demonstrated his strength by winning the April 15 election with an overwhelming vote margin.

These two individuals are known to be very close, having worked together in both the Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in administrations’ Blue House, maintaining a brotherly relationship.

In a 2010 interview with a reporter during Kim Young-bae’s tenure as mayor of Seongbuk District, he described Min Hyung-bae as “a very close brother.”

Even while serving as district mayors, they supported each other and jointly promoted the local autonomy movement, known as mutually reliant grassroots local government leaders.

Accordingly, both Min Hyung-bae and Kim Young-bae, who gained nationwide fame as grassroots local government leaders, are expected to join forces to strengthen decentralization and local autonomy, enabling local governments to properly fulfill their roles upon entering the 21st National Assembly.