Gangbuk B (Korean: 강북구 을) is a constituency of the National Assembly of South Korea. The constituency consists of parts of Gangbuk District, Seoul. As of 2024, 128,295 eligible voters were registered in the constituency. The constituency was created in 1996 after being reorganized from the Dobong B and Dobong C constituency.
Since its establishment, Gangbuk B has always voted for members of centre-left, liberal parties to represent the constituency and is thus considered a stronghold for the Democratic Party. Cho Soon-hyung of the centrist-liberal National Congress for New Politics was the first member to represent the constituency.[1] Cho was re-elected as a member of the liberal Millennium Democratic Party in 2000.[2] He was succeeded by Choi Kyu-sik liberal Uri Party.[3] Choi won re-election in the following election, securing 43.5% of the vote.[4] Choi did not stand for re-election after he was found guilty of receiving political funds illegally.[5][6] The Democratic United Party nominated Yoo Dae-woon for the constituency in the 2012 election, who went on to win the general election.[7]Park Yong-jin was nominated as the Democratic Party's nominee for Gangbuk B in the 2016 election after defeating Yoo Dae-woon in the party's primary.[8] Park won the general election with 51.08% of the vote.[9][10] Park won re-election in 2020, widening his margin of victory by receiving 64.45% of the vote.[11][12]
Ahead of the 2024 South Korean legislative election, incumbent Park Yong-jin was informed by the Democratic Party leadership that his performance in the National Assembly was evaluated as "among the bottom 10 percent" by the party.[13] Park had been considered a member of the party's anti-Lee Jae-myung faction and the evaluation caused speculation that Park would be "cut off" from being re-nominated as the party's candidate for Gangbuk B.[14][15] The Democratic Party's primary held days later saw pro-Lee Jae-myung candidate Chung Bong-ju defeat incumbent Park Yong-jin to win the party's nomination for the constituency.[16] However Chung's nomination was cancelled after it was discovered that he had made disparaging comments about injured South Korean soldiers who had been victims of North Korean land mines in the DMZ.[17][18] As a result of the nomination's cancellation, the Democratic Party held another primary between pro-Lee Jae-myung candidate Cho Su-jin and anti-Lee Jae-myung incumbent Park Yong-jin. Cho Su-jin won in a landslide against Park, receiving 69.93 of the raw vote and 80.6% of the adjusted vote.[19] However Cho resigned as the party's nominee on March 22 after it was discovered that she had defended a sex offender that allegedly sexually assaulted a minor.[20] The party nominated spokesperson Han Min-su on March 22 without another primary.[21] Han Min-su won in the general election with 52.94% of the vote.[22]
11.51
6.8