[Politics, That Day...] The Progressive Politics 'Gemstone (Wonseok)' Hidden Behind the Purple Scarf and Water Purifier CF

Justice Party Leader Kim Jong-cheol, Running for Seoul Mayor at 35... 20 Years of Progressive Politics, His New Challenge

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min]

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

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Jong-chul, the new leader of the Justice Party, is a figure who connected with ‘progressive politics’ even before the Democratic Labor Party was founded. He joined as secretary to Kwon Young-gil, leader of the People’s Victory 21, on January 1, 1999. At the young age of 28, he embarked on the path of progressive politics.

There is a notable point in politician Kim Jong-chul’s profile. He was the president of the student council at Seoul National University’s College of Social Sciences. Politician Kim Jong-chul ran for president of the Seoul National University student council at the end of 1993 but was defeated. The winner at that time was candidate Kang Byung-won, who is now a member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

When politician Kim Jong-chul entered politics, student activists known as the so-called ‘386 generation’ were gaining attention as the ‘young blood’ in Yeouido’s political scene. Politician Kim Jong-chul, who enrolled at Seoul National University in 1990, is strictly speaking somewhat distant from the 386 generation.

Politician Kim Jong-chul is a representative figure among student activist politicians from the 1990s cohort. Alongside his friend Park Yong-jin, a Democratic Party member (Sungkyunkwan University class of 1990), he was recognized as a next-generation leader of progressive politics through their activities in the Democratic Labor Party, but the two took different paths. Park joined the Democratic Party and became a re-elected lawmaker based on his political capabilities.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Politician Kim Jong-chul is a figure who has experienced the turbulent history of progressive politics firsthand. When progressive politics is mentioned, it is easy to recall presidential candidate-level politicians such as Kwon Young-gil, Shim Sang-jung, and Roh Hoe-chan, but there were those who strengthened the roots of progressive politics in the background while they were in the spotlight. Politician Kim Jong-chul is one of them.

Politician Kim Jong-chul was recognized as a next-generation representative of progressive politics in the mid-2000s. He had the opportunity to compete in a ‘bigger arena’ earlier than other politicians of his generation. On May 31, 2006, he ran as the Democratic Labor Party candidate for Seoul mayor in the 4th simultaneous local elections. At that time, he was only 35 years old.

The political experience and clear messages he had cultivated since his student activist days were his strong weapons, but in the 2006 Seoul mayoral election, there were two other ‘fresh’ competitors. The candidates who emerged as early frontrunners in the Seoul mayoral race were Kang Kum-sil of the Uri Party, known for her ‘purple scarf,’ and Oh Se-hoon of the Hannara Party, a star from water purifier commercials who calmed the ‘purple storm.’

Kang Geum-sil, Chief Attorney at Law Firm Won and former Minister of Justice, is delivering the closing keynote speech on the theme "The Future is Business" at the '2019 Asia Future Business Forum' held on the 22nd at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Kang Kum-sil, who made a name for herself as Minister of Justice, and Oh Se-hoon, known as an icon of political reform, shared a common trait of having a color distinct from traditional politics. Since the major party candidates for Seoul mayor also had reformist images, the 35-year-old young progressive politician inevitably fell to the sidelines of public interest.

The actual election results reflected this. Oh Se-hoon won a landslide victory with 61.05% of the vote. Kang Kum-sil received 27.31%. Kim Jong-chul garnered only 2.97% (117,421 votes). Although he lost the Seoul mayoral election, it was an opportunity to let the public know a little about Kim Jong-chul’s existence and his political philosophy.

However, after the 2006 Seoul mayoral election, his name again faded from public attention. He endured difficult times intertwined with the history of division in progressive politics. In the 2008 18th general election, he ran as a candidate for the New Progressive Party in the Dongjak-gu B district of Seoul but lost with only 2.01% of the vote, totaling 1,758 votes.

At that time, politician Kim Jong-chul’s competitors were presidential candidate-level politicians such as Chung Dong-young of the United Democratic Party and Chung Mong-joon of the Hannara Party. The votes of progressive-leaning voters were split between the Democratic Labor Party and the New Progressive Party. It was a difficult contest from the start.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Having connected with politics in his twenties, he is now a middle-aged man of 50. He is now at an age where it is awkward to be called a next-generation leader. After a long journey, he has seized another opportunity. The Justice Party led by Kim Jong-chul is expected to show a different face from the past.

Can the Justice Party break free from the repeated controversies over unification with the Democratic Party during elections and the ‘Democratic Party’s second squad’ controversy surrounding parliamentary votes, and present a new path for progressive parties and a different color of politics?

Since the direct presidential election system was introduced in 1987, the candidates who represented progressive politics in presidential elections were Baek Ki-wan, Kwon Young-gil, and Shim Sang-jung.

Baek Ki-wan, director of the Unification Issues Research Institute, was born in 1932; Kwon Young-gil, former leader of the Democratic Labor Party, was born in 1941; Shim Sang-jung, former leader of the Justice Party, was born in 1959. Based on university enrollment years, Shim Sang-jung belongs to the class of 1978. What does it mean that there have been no presidential candidates from the 1980s or 1990s cohorts in a progressive party that relatively enjoys strong support from younger generations?

Perhaps progressive politics has been the most reluctant to undergo generational change, a space where young politicians have not been able to grow, and where change has been slow.

This is why attention is focused on the trajectory of Kim Jong-chul, who enrolled in 1990. Can politician Kim Jong-chul remain a figure who leads the leap of progressive politics? If his challenge succeeds, the political landscape of Korea may be reorganized in a form fundamentally different from before.