President Yoon Suk-yeol's Junior at Seoul National University Law School
Received Mostly "Unremarkable" Reviews During Tenure as Floor Leader
At the March 8 People Power Party leadership election, candidate Kim Ki-hyun was elected as the new party leader. A four-term veteran and former metropolitan mayor, he is regarded within the party as a "safe choice" due to his extensive experience in both legislative and administrative roles.
Kim, a former judge, graduated from Seoul National University’s College of Law and is a senior to President Yoon Suk-yeol. After passing the 25th Judicial Examination, he served as a judge from 1989 and opened a law practice in Nam-gu, Ulsan in 1993.
Kim Ki-hyun, who was elected as the leader of the People Power Party, is waving the party flag at the 3rd Party Convention held on the 8th at KINTEX in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
Within the party, he has established himself as a four-term senior lawmaker. He entered the National Assembly by winning the 17th general election in 2004 representing Nam-gu Eul, Ulsan. He was also elected in the 18th, 19th, and 21st general elections.
Having been with the People Power Party for over 20 years without ever leaving, he prides himself on being a "traditional conservative." During the impeachment crisis, while some members of the Saenuri Party (the predecessor of the People Power Party) left to form a new party and later returned, Kim never defected and remained loyal to the party.
He also has broad administrative experience. Kim was elected mayor of Ulsan Metropolitan City in the 2014 local elections and led Ulsan’s administration for four years. Within the party, he has held key positions such as chief deputy floor leader, chairman of the policy committee, and spokesperson.
He is regarded as a trusted figure within the party. In the 2021 People Power Party floor leader election, he was overwhelmingly elected with 66 out of 100 votes. During his one-year tenure leading the floor, he achieved the significant feat of bringing the chairmanship of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee to the People Power Party in the latter half of the 21st National Assembly, earning him a reputation among colleagues as "steady."
Of course, he has also faced politically challenging times. In 2018, during the Moon Jae-in administration, he sought re-election as mayor of Ulsan but suffered a critical blow when the police conducted forced investigations, including raids on the mayor’s secretariat. Subsequently, Kim claimed that former President Moon intervened to help his friend, Mayor Song Cheol-ho, get elected, and he transformed into a fighter to expose the so-called "Blue House’s interference in the Ulsan mayoral election" scandal.
His motto is "If I promise, I keep it." A well-known story in Yeouido recounts how, as a high school student, he dated a girl one year younger and promised to marry her; 13 years later, when they became adults, he married that same girl.
In this leadership election, he prominently positioned himself as a "pro-Yoon" candidate. At a press conference announcing his candidacy last December, Kim emphasized, "I, Kim Ki-hyun, am the best suited to lead the party into a mode of unity by communicating candidly with President Yoon Suk-yeol and building consensus." He also formed the so-called "Kim-Jang Alliance" early on with Representative Jang Je-won, a key "Yoon core figure," to rally support from the "Yoon faction."
At the People Power Party’s 3rd leadership election held at KINTEX in Ilsan, Goyang, Kim received a total of 244,163 votes, accounting for 52.93% of the total votes cast.
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