Shin Dong-kun (; born 22 December 1961) is a South Korean dentist-turned politician representing

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

Seo District Seo-gu (), or " Western District," is the name of a ''gu'' in several South Korean cities: * Seo-gu, Busan * Seo-gu, Daegu * Seo-gu, Daejeon * Seo-gu, Gwangju * Seo-gu, Incheon Seo District (Seo-gu) is the largest district in Incheon, South Korea ...

at 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 repre ...

from 2016.

Biography

Before entering politics

During his studies at

Kyung Hee University Kyung Hee University (abbreviated to KHU) (Hangul: 경희대학교; Hanja: 慶熙大學校) is a private research university in South Korea with campuses in Seoul and Suwon. Founded in 1949, it is widely regarded as one of the best universities i ...

, he led his university branch of student-organised group calling for the U.S. to stop providing legitimacy to authoritarian Chun Doo-hwan regime. In May 1985, this group even occupied American cultural center in Seoul. The prosecution service branded this group as "North Korean collaborators" defined by National Security Law. After spending in jail for a year and a half, Shin was pardoned and able to go back to continue his studies. In 2000 he was recognised as a person of distinguished service to the Republic for his participation in democracy movement. After completing his first dentistry degree, Shin opened his own dental clinic in

Seo District, Incheon Seo District (Seo-gu) is the largest district in Incheon, South Korea. It has an area , and it has the largest area of farmland in Incheon. In the past, Seo-gu was part of 'Buk-gu'. In 1988, a part of the ward was separated to form 'Seo-gu'. His ...

in 1990.

Political career

Shin first entered politics upon suggestions made by

Kim Geun-tae Kim Geun-tae (14 February 1947 – 30 December 2011) was a democracy activist and politician of the Republic of Korea. Life Kim was born in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do. He studied in Kyunggi High School and entered Seoul National University ...

, senior figure of his party. After losing two elections in 2002 and 2004, he failed to earn his party's nomination for the same constituency for the 2008 general election. From 2010 to 2011 he has served as the first deputy of newly elected Mayor of Incheon, Song Young-gil. He resigned for the 2012 general election but lost. In the 2016 general election, conservative Ganghwa County merged with Jung District, Incheon to form a parliamentary constituency. This helped Shin to win his seat after 4 loses and to defeat former

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, five-term parliamentarian

Hwang Woo-yea Hwang Woo-yea ( ko, 황우여, Hanja: 黃祐呂; born 3 August 1947) is a Korean jurist, politician, and former chairman of the Saenuri Party. Hwang represents the electorate centred on Yeonsu District, Incheon in the National Assembly of S ...

. He then took multiple roles in his party such as deputy chair of its Policy Planning Committee from 2016 to 2017 and deputy floor leader from 2018 to 2019. In the 2020 general election, Shin won the seat by the biggest margin among 13 constituencies of Incheon becoming the only dentist to be elected. In June 2020 he criticised Gyeonggi Provincial Governor

Lee Jae-myung Lee Jae-myung (; born 22 December 1964) is a South Korean politician serving as a member of the National Assembly and the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Lee was the nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2022 South Korean presidenti ...

for incorrectly branding

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

emergency relief fund as

Universal basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...

and promoting UBI preferable to developing social safety net in addressing inequality. In July 2020 Shin announced his campaign to become one of five elected member of his party's Supreme Council. In August 2020 he was elected as Supreme Council member for fixed term of 2 years receiving most votes after

Kim Jong-min Kim Jong-min (; born September 24, 1979) is a South Korean singer, dancer and television personality. He has been a member of the K-pop group Koyote since 2000 and a cast member of the variety show '' 2 Days & 1 Night'' since 2007. Kim has w ...

and Yeom Tae-young. From September 2020 Shin chairs party's task force for political reforms.

Education

He holds two degrees in dentistry - D.M.D. from

and a master's in dentistry from

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

where he also completed his doctorate programme on dentistry. He is a Chonbuk Mechanical Technical High School graduate.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shin, Dong-kun Democratic Party of Korea politicians Living people 1961 births Kyung Hee University alumni Seoul National University alumni Members of the National Assembly (South Korea) South Korean dentists Uri Party politicians