Activist, Expert to Become Lawmaker
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) has decided to pick a prominent social activist as its No. 1 candidate for the conservative party's proportional representation seats in a bid to improve its standing with low income earners ahead of the April 9 National Assembly election.
The liberal opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), on the other hand, has named a financial expert as its top candidate under the same electoral system with the goal of maximizing the party's ``economy first'' election platform.
The GNP has selected Rev. Kang Myung-soon, widely known as ``the godmother of the poor'' as the party's top proportional representation candidate. After graduating from the department of educational engineering at Ewha Womans University in 1974, Kang started working as a social activist.
In 1986, she launched a charity organization to help children in poverty. It currently cares for some 9,700 orphans and other children in need across the country. Kang also founded a micro credit bank to extend small loans to the homeless and small businesses.
Political watchers say the GNP's selection of Kang is aimed at changing the conservative party's conventional image of ``the party for the wealthy'' and garnering more support from the middle-and-low income voters.
The liberal UDP picked Lee Sung-nam, former member of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee, as its No.1 candidate for its proportional representation seats. Lee graduated from the department of English Literature at Ewha Womans University in 1974.
She started her career at Citibank Korea and went on to work at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), earning a nickname ``Ms. Smile'' for her informal work style and social skills. She became the country's first female member of the central bank's monetary policy decision-making body.
Meanwhile, the Liberty Forward Party chose Lee Young-ae, its supreme council member, as the party's first pick for the proportional representation seats, saying she is a perfect candidate who represents the party's conservative values. Lee was the first female bar exam taker who came out on top and worked as a judge before joining the party.