[22nd Rising Star]④ Park Sumin "Politics is an unfinished homework... I will make Gangnam where children cry with joy"

Editor's NoteThere are 131 first-term lawmakers entering the 22nd National Assembly. This is the lowest number since the 16th National Assembly in 2000, which had 112. Amid a political landscape where the ruling party is in the minority, the public hopes these lawmakers will lead politics of dialogue and compromise to achieve tangible results. We introduce 22 elected officials expected to bring a fresh breeze to the 22nd National Assembly. ①Park Ji-hye ②Go Dong-jin ③Gwak Sang-eon ④Park Soo-min

"I constantly felt like I was back to square one."

Park Soo-min, a former bureaucrat and elected representative of Gangnam-gu Eul, Seoul, pondered repeatedly every five years. Each time a project ended, a new line was added to her resume, but instead of moving forward, she felt like she was running on a hamster wheel every time the administration changed. She ultimately concluded that the problem was politics. "Politics occupies the pinnacle of all national governance. As a bureaucrat, politics was an unfinished task for me."

People Power Party Emergency Response Committee Chairman Han Dong-hoon is putting a party jumper on Park Soo-min, co-CEO of Ainex Medical AI startup, who was recruited as talent at the Talent Recruitment Welcome Ceremony held at the People Power Party Central Office in Yeouido, Seoul, on February 29. [Photo by Yonhap News]

Starting as an administrative officer at the Ministry of Planning and Budget, Park held various positions as a public official, including head of the Tax Expenditure Budget Division at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and administrative officer at the Presidential Office. During the Lee Myung-bak administration, she led the UAE oil field joint development project at the forefront of resource diplomacy. Additionally, she gained experience in the biomedical startup sector as CEO of iNex Corporation. Among her diverse experiences in both public and private sectors, the most memorable was the national budget reform at the Budget Office during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, her first project. Park recalled, "It was the moment I broke out of the shell," adding, "It was a change to the authority of the Budget Office, which caused senior officials to vehemently oppose it."

Her concerns about national development as a bureaucrat led her to politics. While positively changing Korean society was the role of a bureaucrat, she felt at some point that she could no longer fulfill that role. At that moment, she was invited to enter politics at the end of last year. Park said, "I wondered if I should prepare for at least two to three years before jumping in. Entering politics means changing one's life, doesn't it?" She added, "I decided to take the first step and started my political journey."

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Park Sumin, Gangnam-gu Eul Member-elect of the National Assembly. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

Although Park has not fully started her political career yet, she emphasized the huge difference between bureaucrats and politicians. As a bureaucrat, no one evaluates you until results are produced, but politicians feel like they are graded at every moment and process. Park said, "There is pressure from being evaluated in real time by the media and the public for every move," but added, "Politicians exist as messengers who collect and convey public opinion, so they must be evaluated at every moment. Moreover, politicians must be mentally and physically healthy."

As an elected official from the metropolitan area, she also feels a sense of responsibility. The People Power Party suffered a historic defeat in the 22nd general election, winning only 19 seats in the metropolitan area. Park emphasized, "Political tendencies may differ between the metropolitan and Yeongnam regions, but the way and logic of national development should not be different," adding, "I believe my role is to explain and persuade people to choose the People Power Party and the conservative camp."

Park wishes to work in the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee in the 22nd National Assembly because she wants to bring change to the metropolitan area's severe housing issues. She said, "It is time to solve the housing and transportation problems in the metropolitan area, where half of the population lives," adding, "Due to regional projects, the Land Committee has traditionally been led by regional lawmakers, which is a form of reverse discrimination against the metropolitan area. Metropolitan lawmakers should handle metropolitan housing and transportation issues in the Land Committee."

Regarding local issues, she emphasized her desire to solve the low birthrate problem to the point of tears. Park has five children. Because of this, she understands better than anyone the difficulties couples face when having children. She said, "My wife and I are optimists, so we kept having children, but from the fifth child onward, economic and time-related fears arose," adding, "From then on, I understood the difficult feelings of parents who find it hard to have even one child." She continued, "Ultimately, the low birthrate problem is about how to secure parents' time and economic resources," explaining, "I am planning ideas to reduce traffic congestion by turning Gangnam-gu into a scooter-friendly city while integrating jobs and living areas into one."