Kim Tae-nyeon
# Kim Tae-nyeon

Kim Tae-nyeon (Korean: 김태년, born 20 March 1965) is a South Korean politician and former activist who previously served as the parliamentary leader of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). He was the acting President of the party from 9 March to 8 April 2021. He is also the Member of the National Assembly for Seongnam Sujeong (2004-2008; 2012-).

## Early life

Kim Tae-nyeon was born in Suncheon, South Jeolla in 1965. His father was a cobbler while his mother was a fish seller at a market. He attended Suncheon High School and obtained a bachelor's and a master's degree in public administration at Kyung Hee University. His early dream was to be a journalist.

## Career

Kim used to be the President of the Student Council at Kyung Hee University Suwon Campus, as well as a member of the Association of National University Student Representatives. He led a student movement during the June Struggle. Other than these, he also led various local movement in Seongnam.

### Political career

He was brought to the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) by the then President Kim Dae-jung in 2000. In 2003, he left the MDP and formed the National Political Party for Reform (NPPR) that was later merged into the Uri Party, along with Rhyu Si-min. He, however, helped the MDP presidential candidate Roh Moo-hyun during the presidential election in December.

Kim was firstly elected to the National Assembly in 2004 election, defeating the GNP candidate Kim Eul-dong with a majority of 13.7%. Being just 39-year-old, he was the youngest MP-elected at the election. He was appointed one of the deputy parliamentary leaders of the Uri Party in February 2007. He lost to Shin Yeong-su in 2008 election by 129 votes majority.

Kim successfully made a comeback in 2012 election, receiving 54.76% and defeated Shin. In 2017 presidential election, he helped the Democratic presidential candidate Moon Jae-in.

In May 2019, Kim contested the party's election for parliamentary leadership but lost to Lee In-young. On 7 May 2020, he contested again and was elected the parliamentary leader of the Democratic Party.

On 9 March 2021, Kim became the acting President of the Democratic Party following the resignation of Lee Nak-yon, which was considered to run for the upcoming presidential election. However, he resigned on 8 April following the party's huge suffer in the 2021 by-elections.

## Controversies

On 22 January 2018, Kim provoked a controversy when he sent a note to the Minister of Employment and Labour Kim Young-joo. The note was saying, "Don't make an issue of Suncheon Job World. Kim Tae-nyeon's business." The same day, he also made a mistake when he said that the 2018 Winter Olympics would be held in Pyongyang.

On 5 October, during the celebration of 11th anniversary of the 2007 North–South Summit Declaration held in Pyongyang, he was told by Ri Son-gwon, "Don't task financial issues to a big belly".

## Election results

### General elections

| Year | Constituency | Political party | Votes (%) | Remarks |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 2004 | Seongnam Sujeong | Uri | 47,478 (43.94%) | Won |
| 2008 | Seongnam Sujeong | UDP | 29,833 (38.54%) | Defeated |
| 2012 | Seongnam Sujeong | DUP | 51,142 (54.76%) | Won |
| 2016 | Seongnam Sujeong | Democratic | 44,653 (44.57%) | Won |
| 2020 | Seongnam Sujeong | Democratic | 76,830 (60.31%) | Won |
