Kim Ki-hyun Elected Party Leader... Ruling Party's Leadership Officially Launched After 8 Months in Power (Comprehensive)

Supreme Council Members Kim Jae-won, Kim Byung-min, Cho Soo-jin, Tae Yong-ho
Youth Supreme Council Member Candidate Jang Ye-chan Elected

The People Power Party established its party leadership structure eight months after becoming the ruling party through its 3rd party convention on the 8th. The new leadership's term begins on this day and will lead the party in the general election scheduled for April next year. Kim Ki-hyun was elected as the next party leader. The Supreme Council members elected were Kim Jae-won, Kim Byung-min, Cho Soo-jin, and Tae Young-ho. Jang Ye-chan was chosen as the youth Supreme Council member.

At the People Power Party's 3rd party convention held on the 8th at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, candidate Kim Ki-hyun received 244,163 votes, securing 52.93% of the vote. Since the vote share exceeded the majority, Kim was confirmed as party leader in the first round without a runoff. Out of the total 837,236 party members, 461,313 voted, resulting in a turnout rate of 55.10%. Candidate Ahn Cheol-soo received 107,803 votes (23.37%), candidate Chun Ha-ram 69,122 votes (14.98%), and candidate Hwang Kyo-ahn 40,222 votes (8.72%).

Kim Ki-hyun, the newly elected leader of the People Power Party, is waving the party flag after being elected as the party leader at the party's 3rd national convention held on the afternoon of the 8th at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Leader Kim is a four-term lawmaker and former judge (passed the 25th Judicial Examination). He entered politics in 2003 as a spokesperson for the Grand National Party and began his legislative activities in Ulsan Nam-gu from the 17th general election. He served as mayor of Ulsan and represented the same constituency in the 18th, 19th, and 21st National Assemblies. Last year, during the opposition-majority parliament, he served as the opposition floor leader and contributed to the establishment of the Yoon Seok-yeol government.

The senior Supreme Council member is Kim Jae-won. Candidate Kim received a total of 160,067 votes (17.55% of total votes) to become the senior Supreme Council member. Following him were candidate Kim Byung-min with 146,798 votes (16.1%), candidate Cho with 120,173 votes (13.18%), and candidate Tae with 119,559 votes (13.11%). The youth Supreme Council member elected, candidate Jang, received a total of 250,036 votes, showing a vote share of 55.16%.

Candidate Kim Jae-won, a former prosecutor, is a three-term former National Assembly member based in Daegu and Gyeongbuk (TK). He served as a Supreme Council member under former party leader Lee Jun-seok and appeared on various TV programs and radio shows as a highly aggressive conservative panelist. During the Park Geun-hye administration, he was classified as 'pro-Park' and held positions such as ruling party floor deputy leader and Blue House political secretary. He also served as party policy committee chairman and National Assembly budget and accounts committee chairman.

Candidate Kim Byung-min was active as an emergency committee member under former emergency committee chairmen Kim Jong-in in 2019 and Jeong Jin-seok immediately before. In the last presidential election, he served as the longest-serving spokesperson for President Yoon Seok-yeol's campaign, classifying him as a representative 'pro-Yoon' faction. He is a figure who advocates as a 'young leader in his 40s' and serves as the party branch chairman for Seoul Gwangjin-gu Gap.

Kim Ki-hyun, the newly appointed leader of the People Power Party, and the new leadership raise their hands to greet party members at the People Power Party's 3rd National Convention held on the afternoon of the 8th at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Candidate Cho, who entered the National Assembly as a proportional representative in the 21st general election, served as senior Supreme Council member under former party leader Lee Jun-seok in 2021. Originating from Honam, he gained recognition among conservatives while working as an anchor for Channel A's 'Direct Speech'. He earned a 'warrior' image by sharply confronting the Democratic Party on various issues in the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

Candidate Tae is a former charg? d'affaires at the North Korean embassy in the UK who became disillusioned with the North Korean regime and defected to South Korea in August 2016. He ran for the Seoul Gangnam Gap constituency in the 21st general election and entered the National Assembly. Candidate Tae, who ran for Supreme Council member shouting 'Eradicate pro-North leftists,' attracted attention by stating, "If I enter the party leadership, North Korea's Kim Jong-un will be startled."

Candidate Jang, who became the youth Supreme Council member, promotes himself as President Yoon's first youth aide. During the presidential election, he served as head of the youth division of Yoon Seok-yeol's central election campaign headquarters, led the youth communication task force of the Presidential Transition Committee, and served as a policy advisory committee member for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' startup and venture division. He gained recognition appearing as a pro-Yoon panelist on broadcasts.