Actor Myung Gye-nam appointed governor of N. Korea’s Hwanghae Province

Actor Myung Gye-nam speaks in support of a Democratic Party of Korea politician in Busan, in this April 4, 2024, file photo. Myung has been appointed as the new governor of Hwanghae Province, one of the five North Korean provinces administered symbolically by South Korea. Newsis

Actor Myung Gye-nam, 74, has been appointed as the new governor of Hwanghae Province, one of the five North Korean provinces over which South Korea claims symbolic governance.

Myung is a well-known figure in the nation’s film and theater industries as both an actor and a producer, including “Spring in My Hometown” and “Peppermint Candy.”

Myung has long been active in supporting liberal politicians. In 2002, he served as the leader of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s official fan club. In both the 2022 and 2025 elections, he also campaigned for Lee Jae Myung, then-presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea.

“He was deemed fit to carry out the duties of Hwanghae Province governor, given, among other things, his father’s status as a displaced person from Gaeseong,” an official at the Ministry of Interior and Safety said.

Governors of the North Korean provinces are appointed by the South Korean government as a symbolic administrative gesture. Hwanghae, North and South Pyongan, and North and South Hamgyong all have administrators appointed by the president on the recommendation of the interior minister. They do not have a fixed term, and each earns an annual salary of around 145 million won ($100,000).

The system was established in 1949 to represent and manage affairs related to residents who had fled North Korea, and it remains in place today as a symbolic link to the northern territories that South Korea claims under its jurisdiction.

While North Korea currently operates under a nine-province system, Seoul only recognizes the five provinces that existed in the North at the time of liberation in 1945, along with the "unrecovered" portions of Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces. South Korea views the North’s postwar administrative changes creating Jagang and Ryanggang provinces and splitting of Hwanghae Province as legally invalid.