Ki Dong-min (Korean기동민; Hanja奇東旻; born 23 February 1966) is a South Korean politician in the liberal Minjoo Party of Korea, and since the April 2016 parliamentary election member-elect of the National Assembly for Seongbuk, Seoul.

Ki Dong-min
기동민
Member of the National Assembly
Assuming office
30 May 2016
SucceedingShin Gye-ryoon
ConstituencySeongbuk B (Seoul)
Personal details
Born (1966-02-23) 23 February 1966 (age 58)
Jangseong, South Jeolla, South Korea
CitizenshipSouth Korean
Political partyMinjoo Party of Korea
Alma materSungkyunkwan University
Ki Dong-min
Hangul
기동민
Hanja
奇東旻
Revised RomanizationGi Dongmin
McCune–ReischauerKi Tongmin

Born in Jangseong County in South Jeolla, Ki studied journalism at Sungkyunkwan University, and was involved in the South Korean democratization movement as a student.[1] He served as a parliamentary aide and policy advisor in the Ministry of Health and Welfare,[2] before becoming deputy spokesman for the Democratic Party. Mayor Park Won-soon of Seoul appointed Ki his senior secretary for political affairs in 2011, then Vice Mayor for Political Affairs in 2012.[3]

In the 2014 parliamentary by-elections, Ki was controversially nominated by the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, the Minjoo Party's predecessor, for the Dongjak B constituency in preference to his own friend and fellow democracy activist, Heo Dong-joon.[4] Ki's selection provoked a widely publicized dispute between the two men, with Heo holding a week-long sit-in protest at the office of the party chairman in response.[5] Despite being the frontrunner in opinion polling, Ki subsequently withdrew from the election to support Roh Hoe-chan of the Justice Party as a left-wing unity candidate.[6] The by-election, held on July 30, was ultimately won by Na Kyung-won of the conservative Saenuri Party.[7]

As a former aide, Ki is seen as close to Park Won-soon: during his candidature for the 2016 parliamentary elections, he was described as a "Park Won-soon man".[8] His selection in the 2014 by-election was also widely ascribed to Park, though other commentators associated his nomination with then–party co-leader Kim Han-gil.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "기동민, 서울 동작을 전략공천" [Ki Dong-min, strategic nomination in Seoul Dongjak B]. OhmyNews (in Korean). 3 July 2014. Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  2. ^ "서울 성북을 더불어민주당 기동민" [Ki Dong-min, Minjoo Party of Korea, Seoul Seongbuk B]. Focus News (in Korean). 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
  3. ^ "서울시 정무부시장에 기동민 정무수석 내정" [Ki Dong-min nominated as Vice Mayor for Political Affairs of Seoul]. Seoul City (in Korean). 31 October 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  4. ^ "20년 우정, 파국으로 끝난 출마회견" [The press conference that ends a 20-year friendship in catastrophe]. The Huffington Post Korea (in Korean). 8 July 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Seoul's Dongjak B emerges as 'new hub of politics'". The Dong-A Ilbo. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  6. ^ "여론조사서 앞선 기동민, 왜 사퇴했나?" [Why did opinion poll frontrunner Ki Dong-min withdraw?]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 24 July 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  7. ^ "'동작을', 왜 노회찬 아닌 나경원을?" ["Dongjak B", why Na Kyung-won, not Roh Hoe-chan?]. The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 11 August 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  8. ^ "'박원순맨' 기동민 출마...세대교체 본격화" ["Park Won-soon man" Ki Dong-min running for office ... Regularization of the generational change]. Pressian (in Korean). 2 February 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.