Park Heong-joon (; born 19 January 1960) is a South Korean journalist, educator, and politician who has served as the
mayor of Busan since 2021. A member of the
People Power Party, he was a professor of the Sociology Department and Graduate School of International Studies at
Dong-A University from 1991 to 2021.
Park represented 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 Han ...
(GNP) in 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 repr ...
as the Member for
Suyeong from
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
until in
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, when he was defeated by the
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate
Yoo Jae-jung, who later returned to the GNP. Though he lost again to Yoo in 2012, he served as the Secretary-General of the National Assembly from 2014 to 2016. He also served as the
Senior Secretary to the President for Political Affairs from 2009 to 2010 under President
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak (; born 19 December 1941), often referred to by his initials MB, is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the tenth president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engi ...
.
He was elected as
Mayor of Busan in the
2021 by-election, a day before that was provoked following the resignation of
Oh Keo-don due to allegations of sexual harassment. He successfully defeated the
Democratic candidate
Kim Young-choon by a large margin.
Prior to his political career, Park worked as a journalist of ''
JoongAng Ilbo
''The JoongAng'', formerly known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'' (), is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also pu ...
'' and ''
Monthly Mal''. Since the 2010s, he has been a commentator in various programmes such as ''
Battle of Tongues'', ''
Powerful Opponents'', ''
Let's Be Politicians'' and so on.
Early life and education
Park Heong-joon was born in
Choryang-dong,
East District,
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
, in 1960.
His father was a doctor, whom he described as "an iron hand in a velvet glove".
Little is known of his early family life, as he prefers to not talk about it.
Park was educated at
Daeil High School and
Korea University
Korea University (KU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...
.
While studying
sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
at Korea University in 1980, he worked as an editor of the school magazine titled ''KU Culture'' (),
along with joining anti-government protests.
During a protest on 13 May,
he ran away from the venue after he found the riot police firing tear gas, which later hit the wall of Plaza Hotel.
One of the shrapnels injured his right eye and he was soon found collapsed on the road.
Due to this, his legs were burnt, and his right eye was also injured which made him unable to see properly
even after wearing spectacles; as a result he was later exempted from the
national service
National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
.
He then continued postgraduate studies and following the graduation, he was hired at ''
JoongAng Ilbo
''The JoongAng'', formerly known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'' (), is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also pu ...
'' in 1983 and worked for 2 years.
During the 1980s, Park was interested with
left-wing ideologies such as
Marxism
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
.
Along with studying those ideologies,
he worked at left-leaning magazines, for example, ''
Creation and Criticism'' and ''
Reality and Science''.
In June 1991, he was briefly an editor of ''
Monthly Mal'', along with
Jung Tae-in, who later joined the
Justice Party and became a progressive economist.
Political career
In the early 1990s, Park was a founding member of the
Popular Party;
others are
Kim Moon-soo,
Cha Myong-jin and
Lee Jae-oh; all of them are now notable conservative figures.
The party, however, won no seats in the
1992 election and was deregistered.
In 1993, Park was hired by
Park Se-il, who was later appointed the
Senior Secretary to the President for Policy Planning to the then
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
Kim Young-sam
Kim Young-sam (, ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015), often referred to by his initials YS, was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998.
From 1961, Kim spent almost 30 ye ...
, to write and help the government's projects and policies.
He completed ''The Plan and Strategy of Globalisation'' () announced by the President Kim.
From 1995, he hosted important television debates in
Busan
Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
.
He was an
emcee for the debate for the
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
and the
2002 presidential elections.
He also organised civic movements in Busan, such as establishing the New Thinking Forum, Cultural City — Busan Creation Network and Movement for Decentralisation of Busan.
Park joined the main opposition
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 Han ...
(GNP) instead of the ''de facto'' ruling
Uri Party.
Despite public criticism, he later revealed that the reason was to not just "rebuild" the GNP
but also running under the GNP banner was more likely to win in
right
Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...
-leaning Busan.
However, from what ''
Sisa Journal
''Sisa Journal'' () is a South Korean weekly current affairs magazine. It was founded in October 1989.
It also publishes a ''Sisa Journal American Edition'' () that it established in March 2017. That edition caters towards Korean Americans and S ...
'' reported was that he could not trust the leadership of the then President
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 from 2003 to 2008.
Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...
.
He was nominated as the GNP candidate for
Suyeong in the
2004 election and competed against the ruling candidate Huh Jin-ho. Though he came behind to Huh at early polls, he was elected to 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 repr ...
.
On 26 August 2006, while he was a member of the Culture and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly, several sources reported that Park, along with
Kim Jae-hong, an MP of the Uri Party, had visited an
arcade game
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...
exhibition held in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
from 13 to 15 September 2005, using the money from game industry associations.
Amid criticisms, he said that it was an official visit suggested by the committee.
On 5 September, the Uri Party sued both Park and Kim to the Ethics Committee. On 13 December, he was summoned by the prosecution for receiving 100 million won (£63,000) from the CEO of
Andamiro and a gift voucher association. However, he was cleared of wrongdoing on 23 February 2007.
During the
2007 presidential election, Park was one of the key figures helping the GNP presidential candidate
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak (; born 19 December 1941), often referred to by his initials MB, is a South Korean businessman and politician who served as the tenth president of South Korea from 2008 to 2013. Before his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engi ...
to be elected the country's President. Prior to the GNP presidential primary, he chose Lee instead of
Park Geun-hye
Park Geun-hye (; ; born 2 February 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the 11th president of South Korea from 2013 until Impeachment of Park Geun-hye, she was removed from office in 2017. Park was the first and to date only woman ...
or
Sohn Hak-kyu (quit the GNP before the primary) as he perceived that Lee is a "individualistic conservative" compared to Park who is a "nationalistic conservative".
He also emphasised that South Korea needs a good
Machiavellist, which could be acquired via Lee.
Serving as the Spokesman to Lee, he accused the
Blue House
Cheong Wa Dae (), also known as the Blue House in English, is a public park that was the former Office of the President of South Korea, executive office and residence of the president of South Korea. Located in Seoul's Jongno District, directl ...
's of their decision to sue Lee. In the election on 19 December, Lee was officially elected the President of the Republic.
Despite his contributions, Park failed to get re-elected in the
2008 election.
During the election, he contested against a pro-Park Geun-hye
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate Yoo Jae-jung.
At first, he was widely expected to get re-elected.
However, amid anti-campaigns from the
Parksamo (a fan club to Park Geun-hye),
he only received 27,940 votes (41.96%), compared to Yoo who had received 36,577 votes (54.93%). In this election, other pro-Lee Myung-bak figures such as Lee Jae-oh,
Lee Bang-ho and
Kim Hee-jung, also lost.
Following the election, Park was appointed the Chief Spokesperson of the Blue House on 23 June.
On 31 August 2009, he became the
Senior Secretary to the President for Political Affairs.
In the
2012 election, Park was set to contest under the banner of the then ruling
Saenuri (successor of the GNP) banner.
This time, he faced a challenge from Yoo, who had already returned to the GNP (then Saenuri) following his election in 2008, at the
preselection
Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...
.
The party, however, suddenly changed the preselection methods, which was strongly objected by Park.
Park subsequently left the party and contested as an independent candidate. He received 24,630 votes (29.59%) and was again defeated by Yoo.
Post-political career
On 1 September 2014, Park was appointed the new Secretary-General of the National Assembly. On 4 December 2015, he announced he would not contest for Suyeong in the
2016 election. His term as the Secretary-General of the National Assembly ended on 21 June 2016.
Following the election lost in 2012, he has been involved in various programmes, such as ''
Battle of Tongues'', ''
Powerful Opponents'', ''
Let's Be Politicians'' and so on. In 2017, he became the commentator of the conservative panel of the ''Battle of Tongues'', replacing the incumbent
Jun Won-tchack who became a newsreader of
TV Chosun.
On 18 July 2017, at ''
Battle of Tongues'', Park harshly accused the main opposition
Liberty Korea 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 Hann ...
(LKP) for not learning from its past mistakes such as the
2016 political scandal.
He also added that the party is only targeting
far-right
Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
and elderly voters.
Return to politics
On 9 January 2020, Park was appointed the Chairman of the Advance Committee for Innovation and Unity, an organisation seeking the unity of
centrist
Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...
and conservative parties including the then Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and the
New Conservative Party (NCP). As a result, major conservative parties including both the LKP and the NCP was merged into the newly formed
United Future Party (UFP).
On 9 March, prior to the
2020 election, Park applied to nominate himself as a candidate for the
Future Korea Party (FKP), the
satellite party
Satellite Party was an alternative rock band formed by Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell following the break-up of Jane's Addiction in 2004. Other members included Carl Restivo (bass) and Farrell's wife, Etty Lau Farrell (backing singer a ...
to the UFP.
He, however, retracted the decision within 2 hours following the public backlash of his decision.
He later apologised for the issue.
In the general election, the UFP-FKP alliance only secured 103 out of 300 seats, the worst result as a major conservative party since 1988. The party president,
Hwang Kyo-ahn, who contested for
Jongno, was also defeated by the former
Prime Minister
A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Lee Nak-yon. Park cited that the party lost about 30 seats due to hate speeches and defamatory remarks of its several candidates. The party renamed itself to the
People Power Party (PPP).
On 29 October, Park officially rejoined the PPP, the same day when the former President Lee Myung-bak was sentenced to 17 years in jail.
2021 Busan mayoral election
The resignation of the
Mayor of Busan Oh Keo-don on 23 April 2020 following the allegations of sexual harassment has provoked a by-election in 2021.
Prior to the election, Park was considered to be one of the potential candidates of the UFP (then PPP), along with an ex-MP
Lee Un-ju, the former Mayor
Suh Byung-soo
Suh Byung-soo (; born 9 January 1952) is a South Korean politician who served as the mayor of Busan from 2014 to 2018. He previously served as the National Assembly (South Korea), Member of the National Assembly for Haeundae District, Haeundae ...
, the former
Dongnae Mayor
Lee Jin-bok and so on.
On 31 August, ''
The Kookje Daily News'' had reported that Park was considering to run for the election.
On 15 December, Park officially launched his bid for Busan mayorship at Busan Port International Exhibition & Convention Centre.
In his
manifesto
A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
, he declared the following:
* Building the
new airport (replacing the incumbent
Gimhae International Airport
Gimhae International Airport is located on the western end of Busan, South Korea. Opened in 1976, the airport is named after the nearby city of Gimhae. A new international terminal opened on October 31, 2007. Gimhae International Airport i ...
) in
Gadeokdo
* Developing the
Port of Busan
The port of Busan is the largest port in South Korea, located in the city of Busan, South Korea. Its location is known as Busan Harbour.
The port is ranked sixth in the world's container throughput and is the largest seaport in South Korea. The ...
*
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
education for primary and secondary students
On 4 March 2021, Park won PPP preselection with obtaining 54.40%, defeating the former Deputy Mayor of Busan
Park Seong-hun and the former MP for
Gwangmyeong
Gwangmyeong (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It borders Seoul to the east, north and northeast, Anyang, Gyeonggi, Anyang to the southeast, Siheung to the southwest, and Bucheon to the nort ...
2nd constituency
Lee Un-ju.
From November 2020 to March 2020, various polls indicated that he had been the most favourable candidate.
On 12 March 2021, Park posted on his
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
that he had quit being a professor of Dong-a University where he had been working from 1 September 1991.
He indicated that he would permanently quit as a scholar but become a full-time politician.
Nevertheless, on 25 March, ''
The Hankyoreh
''The Hankyoreh'' () is a centre-left liberal daily newspaper in South Korea. It was established in 1988 after widespread purges forced out dissident journalists, and was envisioned as an alternative to existing newspapers, which were regarde ...
'' reported that his withdrawal from Dong-a University was shortly after he opened courses for a new semester.
According to the newspaper, Park had opened 2 courses (1 for postgraduate and 1 other for doctorate) in February and the course selection period was from 15 to 25 February, while he was contesting PPP preselection for Busan mayorship.
As the first class was on 4 March, the same day he was officially nominated as the candidate, the lecturer-in-charge for the doctorate course was immediately replaced to another person while the postgraduate course was abolished.
This movement provoked a public uproar; one professor who used to work together with Park condemned that "the students' rights to learn were trampled".
On the other hand, Park's election campaign revealed that Park had already resigned on 28 February, but there were some issues with the resignation letter, and could only be submitted on 2 March (accepted a week later).
They also indicated that the postgraduate course was abolished due to the lack of students.
The exit poll released shortly after the election on 7 April showed that Park was expected to obtain 64.0%, while the
Democratic candidate
Kim Young-choon could only receive 33.0%. He expressed his gratitude to his supporters after he was confirmed to be elected. At 02:30
KST on 8 April, the ballot counting was finished, and Park received 961,576 votes (62.67%).
Mayor of Busan
Park took the oath of office at 11:00 KST 8 April 2021 after he received a certificate of election from the
Busan Metropolitan City Election Commission.
His first term ended on 30 June 2022 as he was elected in a by-election; he served the remaining term of Oh Keo-don.
He was re-elected in the
8th local elections, and will serve his second term as mayor until 30 June 2026.
Inauguration
Park paid a visit to
Chungnyeolsa at 8:30 KST 8 April, and then subsequently headed to the City Election Commission, where he received a certificate of election.
His inauguration ceremony at the
Busan Metropolitan City Hall proceeded with an online format due to
social distancing
In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...
in order to curb the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Political orientation
Formerly a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
,
Park's political stance moved to
centre-right
Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
. In 2007, he also declared himself as a "centre-right".
During the administration of Lee Myung-bak, he set the government's stance as centrist pragmatism.
Nowadays, Park is critical towards left-wing ideology.
He criticised South Korean leftists as "being too
nationalistic in front of
reunification issues".
He also calls the
Moon Jae-in
Moon Jae-in (, ; born January 24, 1953) is a South Korean politician and former lawyer who served as the 12th president of South Korea from 2017 to 2022. Before his presidency, he served as the senior secretary for civil affairs and the Chief ...
government's policy to increase the
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...
to 10,000
won (
£6.7) as a "
populist
Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
policy".
Personal life
Park has been married to Cho Hyun, a businesswoman who has been operating Cho Hyun Gallery (World Gallery before 2008) since 1990. Her mother died in 2009. Both have a son and a daughter.
On 17 March 2021, he revealed through his Facebook that Cho Hyun is his second wife. ''JoongAng Ilbo'' reported 2 days later that Cho had already been having a daughter and a son with her ex-husband and then remarried Park in December 1999.
Works
Television
Books
* ''Modern Society and Ethics'' (1990)
* ''Modern Labour Process Theory'' (1991)
* ''Modern Society and Ideology'' (1992)
* ''Frontier of the 21st Century'' (1994)
* ''Digitisation — The Meaning in the History of Civilisation and the Way of National Strategy'' (1996)
* ''Understanding the 21st Century'' (1997)
* ''Reflective Civil Society and Citizens' Movement'' (2001)
* ''A Study on the Application of Regulatory Negotiations'' (2007)
* ''Korean Society — What and How to Change'' (2014)
* ''Reconstitution of Conservatism'' (2019)
Election results
General elections
Local elections
Mayor of Busan
Notes
References
External links
Park Heong-joonon
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
Park Heong-joonon
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Heong-joon
1960 births
Living people
Mayors of Busan
People from Busan
People from Dong District, Busan
South Korean journalists
Members of the National Assembly (South Korea)
People Power Party (South Korea) politicians
Korea University alumni
21st-century mayors of places in South Korea
21st-century South Korean politicians
Academic staff of Dong-a University
Former Marxists