Kim Doo-kwan ( ko, 김두관, RR: ''Gim Du-gwan'',

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 金斗官; born 10 April 1959) is a South Korean

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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, former

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, and former governor of

South Gyeongsang Province South Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상남도, translit=Gyeongsangnam-do, ) is a province in the southeast of South Korea. The provincial capital is at Changwon. It is adjacent to the major metropolitan center and port of Busan. The UNESCO World ...

. He was elected governor in the 2010 local elections as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

after two previous unsuccessful attempts. He served as

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

under the administration of

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (; ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea between 2003 and 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

, and at one point was seen as a potential contender for the DUP nomination in the 2012 presidential election.

Early life and education

Kim Doo-kwan was born in a village in Namhae on 10 April 1959. He studied at the Department of Political Diplomacy of Dong-A University, graduating in 1987.

Political career

After serving as Secretary-General of the Namhae farmers' association from 1987, Kim was prefect of Namhae County in the 1990s. He failed in a bid to become governor of South Gyeongsang in 2002. In 2003, he was chosen as Minister for Government Administration and Home Affairs by

, but on 3 September of that year the National Assembly voted to dismiss him. He unsuccessfully contested Namhae in the 2004 National Assembly elections for the

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 ...

, winning 16.9% of the vote. He subsequently lost a second attempt to become governor in 2006.

Governorship

In the 2010 local elections, Kim won an upset victory in the South Gyeongsang gubernatorial election as an independent candidate, and took office as governor on 1 July 2010. Despite originally promising to maintain his independence, in February 2011 he joined the Democratic United Party.Kim setting out on Dec. presidential run?
''

The Korea Herald ''The Korea Herald'' is a leading English-language daily newspaper founded in 1953 and published in Seoul, South Korea. The editorial staff is composed of Korean and international writers and editors, with additional news coverage drawn from int ...

'', 19 April 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.

Party politics

After the party's defeat in the 2012 parliamentary elections, Kim emerged as an alternative candidate for the DUP nomination for that year's presidential election, though he had been considered as a potential frontrunner beforehand.Dingankar, M
An Overview of South Korean politics
Institute for Defense Studies & Analyses, 1 July 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2012. He has been termed the "little Roh Moo-hyun" on account of his unprivileged background and his principles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Doo-Kwan 1959 births Living people People from Namhae County Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) Minjoo Party of Korea politicians People from South Gyeongsang Province Governors of South Gyeongsang Province South Korean Buddhists Dong-a University alumni