Kim Soo-young (; born 5 December 1964) is a South Korean politician who served as Mayor of

Yangcheon District The Yangcheon District (Yangcheon-gu) is a ''gu'', or district, of Seoul, South Korea, located on the southwest side of the Han River. At the centre of this district is the Mok-dong area, which is home to numerous shopping outlets, bars and rest ...

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 ...

and its first woman mayor from July 2014 to June of 2022. From 2006 to 2008 she worked as the first head of

Siheung Siheung ( ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The city has a population of 511,807 people, where 508,646 are residents out of 218,846 households as of August 2021. Siheung acquired its curren ...

's women's job center run by

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (), or formerly the Ministry of Gender Equality (여성부, 女性部, ), is a cabinet-level division of the government of South Korea. It was created on February 28, 1998 as the ''Presidential Commissio ...

. From 2012 to 2014 Kim was the adjunct professor of social welfare at

Soongsil University Soongsil University (SSU) is the first modern university in Korea, dating its history back to 1897. It was founded under the Christian missionary William M. Baird. The campus is located in 369 Sangdo-ro, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Histo ...

Education

Kim holds three degrees - a bachelor in Korean language from

Ewha Womans University Ewha Womans University () is a private women's university in Seoul founded in 1886 by Mary F. Scranton under Emperor Gojong. It was the first university founded in South Korea. Currently, Ewha is one of the world's largest female educational ins ...

, a master's in social welfare policy from

Sogang University Sogang University (SU, Hangul: 서강대학교 Hanja: 西江大學校, literally "West River University") is one of the most prestigious private research universities in Seoul, South Korea. It was established in 1960 by the Wisconsin Province of ...

and a doctorate in social welfare from

Political career

Kim was the president of student union of

in late 1980s and imprisoned for student activism against authoritarian regime of

Chun Doo-hwan Chun Doo-hwan (; or ; 18 January 1931 – 23 November 2021) was a South Korean Republic of Korea Army, army general and military dictator who ruled as an unelected Political strongman, strongman from 1979 to 1980 before replacing Choi Kyu-hah ...

. She then worked as a member of pro-democracy student organisation supportive of

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 ...

's presidential candidacy. She took multiple roles in her party such as a member of human rights committee of

's third presidential campaign in 1992, a director of Women's Affairs Bureau of her party, then-

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 ...

, from 2004 to 2006 and vice president of Women's leadership centre of her party, then-

New Politics Alliance for Democracy The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK; ), formerly known as the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), is a liberal political party in South Korea. Controlling the unicameral National Assembly as of 2022, the DPK is regarded as one of two maj ...

Mayor of Yangcheon District

In 2011 Kim ran for Mayor of Yangcheon against Choo Jae-yup () in the by-election held after her husband and then-mayor, Lee Jae-hak (), was sentenced guilty by the Supreme Court for spreading lies about Choo, then opposing candidate, during campaign. In 2013 Choo who has served as Mayor of Yangcheon three times non-consecutively was removed from the post after the Supreme Court sentenced him guilty for

Perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

during Lee's trial and breaking election law after it is reasonable to believe Lee's "lie" that Choo actually waterboarded people while working for Army Counterintelligence Corps. In an interview, she said she had dreamed of becoming elected official of local government and then member of

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 repre ...

and would have run for elected post regardless of her marriage. In 2014 Kim ran for Mayor again and won becoming the only woman among 20 democratic mayors in Seoul and the first woman to lead Yangcheon. In 2018 Kim became the first Yangcheon Mayor to be elected twice consecutively. She is also the first woman from her party or its preceding parties to be elected twice for head of local government in South Korea.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Soo-young 1964 births Living people Soongsil University alumni Ewha Womans University alumni Minjoo Party of Korea politicians Sogang University alumni 21st-century South Korean women politicians 21st-century South Korean politicians People from Seoul Mayors of places in South Korea Yangcheon District