[22nd Rising Star](20) Kim Seonghoe Captures Grassroots Sentiment via YouTube... "I Will Create a Special Act for Special Cities"

Democratic Party Lawmaker Elected in Goyang-si Gap, Defeating Sim Sang-jung
"Efforts to Expand Subway and Alleviate Traffic Congestion"

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. The public hopes that these lawmakers will lead politics of dialogue and compromise amid a situation where the ruling party is in the minority, producing tangible results. We introduce the first-term lawmakers expected to bring a fresh breeze to the 22nd National Assembly. (1) Park Ji-hye (2) Go Dong-jin (3) Kwak Sang-eon (4) Park Soo-min (5) Park Chung-kwon (6) Seo Myung-ok (7) Im Mi-ae (8) Choi Eun-seok (9) Boo Seung-chan (10) Wi Seong-rak (11) Jo Seung-hwan (12) Kim Nam-hee (13) Kim Jun-hyung (14) Park Sung-hoon (15) Kim Hyun-jung (16) Kim Yong-tae (17) Lee Ju-young (18) Mo Kyung-jong (19) Seo Ji-young (20) Kim Seong-hoe

The secret to the election victory of Kim Seong-hoe, a Democratic Party lawmaker who defeated former Justice Party lawmaker Shim Sang-jung and entered the National Assembly, was his 'cell phone.' Currently, more than 2,000 constituents are saved in his phone. He publicly shared his phone number on Facebook and his YouTube channel and personally replied to thousands of text messages sent by voters. On the 31st of last month, we met Kim, who had just settled into Room 715 of the National Assembly Members' Office Building.

Highly regarded for his ability to utilize new media, he believed that raising recognition was crucial to entering politics. So he started with YouTube. For three years, he did live broadcasts on YouTube every weekday at 9 a.m. without fail. When he decided to run in Goyang-si Gap and first disclosed his phone number, about 1,000 people sent him text messages.

Kim Seong-hoe, elected as the Democratic Party candidate in Goyang-si Gap, Gyeonggi Province, in the 22nd general election. On the 31st of last month, Representative Kim was interviewed by Asia Economy at the National Assembly Members' Office Building. / Photo by Oh Ji-eun joy@

He set principles for his YouTube activities. Kim explained, "To improve audio quality, I set up a system to do live broadcasts, which I also distributed as podcasts and uploaded to YouTube." He added, "Since the Korean YouTube market tends to revolve around anger, I thought there was a blue ocean in objectively and calmly presenting content." He said, "That approach also gave me opportunities to appear on broadcasts."

Kim entered politics after participating in student activism while attending Korea University. He said, "I thought power change through elections was the most realistic and fastest way to change the world, so in 1992, I participated as a volunteer in election campaigns as a university student." He added, "That experience led me to start politics at the Saechunminjoo Party Dongdaemun District Party after graduation." He continued, "In the 2000 general election, the candidate (Heo In-hoe) I helped lost by only 11 votes. The margin was so narrow it was shocking. Until then, election campaigns were conducted haphazardly, so I developed a desire to introduce scientific election campaigning."

Afterward, Kim went to Los Angeles, USA, where his parents lived, to study political science. However, shortly after arriving, his father suddenly passed away, forcing him to enter the workforce instead of continuing his studies. Kim said, "During that time, I studied theology and worked as a pastor at a Korean church." He was also actively involved in social participation, working for a long time as a secretary for the LA Nosamo (People Who Love Roh Moo-hyun) group. Kim mentioned, "In 2007, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution 121 demanding an official apology from the Japanese government regarding the issue of sex slaves, I participated as the California secretary."

He expressed a strong commitment to fulfilling his constituency-related pledges. Kim promised, "I will create a 'Special Act on Special Cities' so that Goyang-si can properly exercise its authority as a special city." He emphasized, "Goyang-si has a population exceeding one million, but it still uses the building from when it was Goyang County Office. A city hall needs to be built, but as the mayor changed, there was a move to unilaterally change the plan, so I will ensure the original plan is carried out." Furthermore, he stressed, "Goyang-si is adjacent to Seoul, but public transportation is inconvenient. We need to expand the subway and introduce a semi-public bus system."