Kim Boo-kyum (; born 21 January 1958) is a South Korean activist and politician, who has served as the

Prime Minister of South Korea The prime minister of the Republic of Korea (PMOTROK or PMOSK; ) is the deputy head of government and the second highest political office of South Korea who is appointed by the President of the Republic of Korea, with the National Assembly's app ...

from 2021 to 2022. He was the former Minister of Interior and Safety from 2017 to 2019. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he also served as the Member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

for Suseong 1st constituency from 2016 to 2020 and was previously MP for

Gunpo Gunpo (군포; ), formerly romanized as Kunp'o, is a small city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province, located south of Seoul in the Seoul National Capital Area. It borders Anyang to the north, Uiwang to the east, and Ansan to the south and west, an ...

from 2000 to 2012, first for the

Grand National Party The Liberty Korea Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party (), and before that as the Hanna ...

(GNP) and then, from 2003, the liberal

Uri Party The Yeollin Uri Party (), generally abbreviated to Uri Party (), was the ruling political party in South Korea from 2003–2007. It had a liberal political ideology in order to support then President Roh Moo-hyun. Chung Sye Kyun was the last le ...

and its successors. In the 2016 parliamentary election in Daegu, Kim defeated his Saenuri opponent Kim Moon-soo in a 62.5 percent landslide, marking the first time a member of a liberal party had been elected in that city since

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. Kim had earlier stood for mayor of Daegu in the 2014 local elections, and received 40 percent of the vote, a number seen at the time as unusually large in the conservative stronghold. He stated in 2014 that he hoped to "overcome the barrier of regionalism".

Early life and education

Kim Boo-kyum was born on 21 January 1958 in

Sangju Sangju () is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, central South Korea. Although Sangju is rather rural, it is very old and was once a key city. Along with Gyeongju, it gives rise to half of the name of the Gyeongsang provinces. Sangju is nickn ...

North Gyeongsang North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...

. He is the eldest of the one son and three daughters of Kim Young-ryong and Cha Sook-hui. His father, Kim Young-ryong, was just 19 years old when Kim Boo-kyum was born. Kim was admitted to study political science at Seoul National University in 1976, but was expelled for taking part in protests against the

Yushin Constitution The fourth Republic of Korea () was the government of South Korea from November 1972 to March 1981. The Fourth republic was founded on the approval of the Yushin Constitution in the 1972 constitutional referendum, codifying the ''de facto'' d ...

in 1977, before being readmitted and expelled again for violating martial law in 1980. He was later reinstated a second time, and received his degree in 1987.

Political career

Early political career

Kim joined politics as one of the founders of the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

Hankyoreh Democratic Party (HDP) in 1988. He ran as the HDP candidate for

Dongjak Dongjak District (Dongjak-gu) is one of the 25 '' gu'' that make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Its name was derived from the Dongjaegi Naruteo Ferry, on the Han River which borders the district to the north. It was the 17th ''gu'' create ...

1st constituency in the 1988 election but lost. No candidates were elected, except Park Hyung-oh that contested for Shinan, who immediately joined the

Peace Democratic Party The Peace Democratic Party (; PDP) was a political party of South Korea from 1987 to 1991. The party was established in October 1987 by Kim Dae-jung and his followers to contest the presidential election that year. The party later merged with ...

(PDP) due to the pre-agreement. The HDP was later de-registered. Following the de-registration of the HDP, Kim joined the

that was established by

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

in 1991. He had an intention to run in the 1992 election, but could not become a candidate. He served as the Deputy Spokesperson of the party, however, was arrested on 18 November after it was revealed that Kim received 5,000,000 won (≒

￡ The pound sign is the currency symbol, symbol for the pound unit of account, unit of Pound sterling, sterling – the currency of the United Kingdom and previously of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and of the Kingdom of England. The s ...

3,240) from a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n spy named Lee Seon-shil during the 1988 election. According to

Park Jie-won Park Jie-won(; born 5 June 1942) is a South Korean politician who served as Director of the National Intelligence Service. He was the chief presidential secretary to President Kim Dae-jung, and served as the Minister of Ministry of Culture, ...

, the then Senior Deputy Spokesperson, Kim borrowed the money from Lee through his mother-in-law, but paid it back after the election. He also indicated that Kim was not related to his party in 1988; he was also told that Kim did not even know that Lee was a spy.

Prime Minister (2021-2022)

Nomination

As the former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Chung Sye-kyun Chung Sye-kyun () is a South Korean politician who has served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 2016 to 2018 and Prime Minister of South Korea from 2020 to 2021. He was previously leader of the main opposition Democratic Party between 2 ...

had the intention to run for the 2022 presidential election, he was supposed to resign, but initially, he was still considering when he would resign. Several newspapers reported that he would step down after the by-elections on 7 April 2021. Despite the knowledge that President Moon Jae-in was reported to prefer a female prime minister, Kim was considered one of the potential candidates for the position. On 15 April, Chung officially submitted his resignation to Moon Jae-in, and it was accepted the next day. The same day, Kim was nominated the new Prime Minister, succeeding Chung. As he is categorised as a "minority" of the Democratic Party, his nomination was regarded as a step to renovate the party that faced a serious defeat in the 2021 by-elections. On 13 May, 168 out of 176 MPs voted in favour of the appointment of Kim as the Prime Minister. The next day, he was sworn in as Prime Minister at the Central Government Complex in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Political positions

Kim is considered a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

. As a member of the Grand National Party he pressed for reform in the party, and when he defected from the party in 2003 he cited the need "to unify the nation ... and to root out regionalism". A 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable released by

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...

described Kim as a "reasonable progressive lawmaker" representing a "centrist platform", and as a member of the Supreme Council of the

Democratic United Party The Democratic Party (; DP), formerly the Democratic United Party (; DUP) until 2013, was a liberal political party in South Korea, and for the duration of its existence the country's main opposition force. On 15 December 2011, the Democratic ...

in 2012 he defended centrist members of the party from deselection. Commentators have named Kim a potential candidate in the 2017 presidential elections.

Personal life

Kim's daughter, Yoon Se-in (born Kim Ji-su), is a television actress. Yoon campaigned for Kim in the 2012 parliamentary election and the 2014 mayoral race, but was unable to in 2016.

Election results

General elections

Local elections

Mayor of Daegu

References

External links

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Boo-kyum 1958 births Living people Gimhae Kim clan Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Minjoo Party of Korea politicians People from Sangju Liberty Korea Party politicians Prime Ministers of South Korea Interior ministers of South Korea Seoul National University alumni United New Democratic Party politicians Uri Party politicians Yonsei University alumni