Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Kim Dong-yeon, career civil servant seeking to create 'new wave' in Korean politics
Former Deputy Prime Minister and independent presidential hopeful Kim Dong-yeon announces the foundation of his political party, named, "New Wave," during an event in Mapo District, Seoul, Oct. 24. Joint Press Corps
By Nam Hyun-woo
This article is the fifth in a series on the major presidential contenders' leadership styles, campaign promises, strengths and weaknesses, as well as career histories ― ED.
By Nam Hyun-woo
Former Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon is known for his life story of overcoming difficulties and rising as Korea's top financial policymaker. He appears to have chosen an uneasy path in his presidential campaign, founding his own political party to stand as a candidate outside the country's current political dynamics dominated by the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the conservative People Power Party (PPP).
On Oct. 24, Kim founded his party, named “the New Wave,” saying that he wants to change the “political dynamics” of Korea completely through creating the party.
“As long as the current political ecosystem dominated by the two major parties remains, it is impossible to resolve structural problems that Korea has been suffering from for the past 20 years,” Kim said during the party's founding ceremony. “With politics having the thickest market barrier in the country, I created the New Wave party in order to break down this barrier and change political dynamics.”
Both the DPK and the PPP sought to recruit Kim, since he is a figure whom centrists or moderate voters can embrace, given his background of serving ranking government jobs under both liberal and conservative administrations. However, the 64-year-old did not reply to those calls, dropping hints that he would pursue his own brand of politics that does not sit along the left-right political spectrum.
On Sept. 8, Kim announced his presidential bid as an independent candidate and called for a change in today's political establishments, casting questions on how far his political venture will go.
From working student to top financial policymaker
Kim is a career civil servant, having served more than 30 years mostly in economy and budget-related areas during both liberal and conservative administrations.
Born in 1957 in Eumseong County, North Chungcheong Province, Kim attended a vocational high school and took a job at a bank at the age of 17 without a college diploma, as he had to support his family from his teenage years. While working, he studied during the evenings at a professional college ― Kookje University ― for eight years before graduating.
After passing two state exams for the selection of ranking public servants in 1982, he started his career as a government official at the Economic Planning Board, which is now the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Due to Korea's culture of putting emphasis on one's academic background, Kim continued his studies to earn a master's degree at Seoul National University's Graduate School of Public Administration and a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
In 2008, Kim served as the secretary of economy and finance for conservative President Lee Myung-bak to assist Korea in overcoming the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. In the following year, Kim became secretary of national assignments and was then named as the second vice minister of economy and finance in 2012.
In the following Park Geun-hye administration, which was also conservative, Kim became the minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination in 2013, as Park acknowledged Kim's expertise in budget planning.
He resigned in 2014, citing health and family issues ― his son died of leukemia in 2013 ― and was appointed as president of Ajou University in 2015. After serving two years there, he was named as the liberal Moon Jae-in administration's inaugural deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance.
Then-Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon, right, shakes hands with Jang Ha-sung, then-presidential chief of staff for policy, during their meeting at the Financial Supervisory Service's training institute in Jongno District, Seoul, Aug. 29, 2018. Yonhap
He served for the Moon administration from June 2017, carrying out the President's early economic policies, including income-led and innovation-led growth.
During this process, it was reported that Kim clashed with the presidential office over the income-led growth policy, which is the idea that increasing employees' income will stimulate consumption and therefore, economic growth. Kim claimed that this policy would not economically feasible, and thus that the country should put greater emphasis on innovation-led growth, which encourages companies to come up with innovative technologies and business by easing regulations and nurturing infrastructure.
As Korea's job-related indices continued to plummet in 2018, and following the Moon government's efforts to raise the statutory minimum wage, Kim took a stand against the President, stating that the government needed to slow down the minimum wage hike.
As this issue became a major point of conflict between Kim and Jang Ha-sung, the then-presidential chief of staff for policy and an ardent advocator of income-led growth, concerns were raised of internal party division on government policy, and Moon replaced both Kim and Jang at the same time in December 2018.
Upon his departure from the finance ministry, Kim received calls to join the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the PPP, but he refused, saying “I am the first deputy prime minister of the Moon administration,” and that he would “return as a citizen.”
Then-Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon waves to reporters as he leaves the Government Complex Sejong on Dec. 10, which was his last day of office as Korea's top economic policymaker. Yonhap
Since then, Kim has spent more than two years formulating his approach to supporting the country's prosperity. He published a book titled, “Breaking the Taboos of Korea,” which outlines his political vision that sees Korea shift away from its “winner-takes-all structure” and become a “country of opportunities.”
Everything but politics experience
Kim is viewed as a candidate having many traits that Korean voters like. He is: an economic expert who knows how to manage state coffers, a former high-ranking official who took a stand against higher powers for what he believes, a man with an archetypal rags-to-riches life story, and a fresh face who is not intertwined in the politics of the liberal and conservative parties.
Pundits and politicians have also said that Kim is one of the best prepared presidential candidates who have designed election pledges to support his political vision of breaking up the power of the establishment and creating a country full of opportunities.
“Given Kim's life story, professional career and expertise, I have been recommending that he jump into politics for years,” said Kim Chong-in, a former lawmaker who has served as an interim leader of both the PPP and the DPK.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon, left, shakes hands with Kim Chong-in, a former lawmaker who has served as interim leader of both the conservative main opposition People Power Party and the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea, during their breakfast meeting at a restaurant in Seoul, Oct. 12. Joint Press Corps
However, having no experience as a politician is one of Kim's most crucial weaknesses, though he said it could be an opportunity for him and that he wants to break the barriers limiting those without that kind of political experience.
Kim wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that he was not permitted to use the National Assembly's press conference room because he of his independent candidate status.
“Regardless of the support rate, the rule prohibits me from using the room, unless I recruit an incumbent lawmaker,” Kim wrote. “This was like two big conglomerates making a market barrier and hampering a venture company from releasing a new product.”
As his first election pledge, Kim promised to reform the country's bureaucracy through actions such as changing the pay grade system and slashing the number of administrative public jobs by 20 percent. However, this pledge faced criticism from the Korean Government Employees' Union, which described it as “an absurd statement by a person who has no chance of becoming president.”