Woo Sang-ho, the Democratic Party candidate for Gangwon governor, smiles after his victory became all but certain at the Democratic Party Gangwon provincial chapter in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, on the 4th. Yonhap News

In the 6·3 local election for Gangwon governor, Democratic Party candidate Woo Sang-ho was elected on the 4th. Drawing on his experience as senior presidential secretary for political affairs at the Blue House, he emphasized the possibility of close cooperation with the central government, a strategy seen as effectively resonating with public sentiment. The governor-elect put forward ‘integration and pragmatism’ as the guiding principles of the provincial administration, saying, “I will surely fulfill as my mission my sincere intent to build industries in Gangwon, create jobs, and bring young people back.”

The governor-elect won with 51.81% of the vote, narrowly defeating the incumbent governor, People Power Party candidate Kim Jin-tae, who received 48.18%.

Around 3:50 a.m. that day, the governor-elect visited the Democratic Party Gangwon provincial chapter and said, “Changing Gangwon is my final political mission,” and, “I will carefully put into practice, one by one, the ideas I had envisioned for a breakthrough transformation of Gangwon.” The governor-elect said, “I will tear down the walls between progressives and conservatives and willingly extend a hand of integration even to those in different camps“ and added, “As with the pragmatic direction of state administration of President Lee Jae Myung, the provincial administration will also achieve a special leap that elevates the pride of residents.”

Throughout the campaign, the governor-elect emphasized his relationship with President Lee Jae Myung. In February, he received the Democratic Party ‘first single-candidate nomination’ early and entered the race. He campaigned under the slogan ‘the person sent by the President’, emphasizing the possibility of close cooperation with the central government. At a lecture held in Cheorwon, Gangwon, on February 25 this year, he even introduced it by saying, “The person who encouraged me to try serving as governor even before I was elected is President Lee Jae Myung.” The governor-elect served as head of the election countermeasures committee for the Gangwon region, which is his hometown, during the 21st presidential election held last year. Although he had been classified within the party as part of the nonLee Jae Myung (anti-Lee) camp, he later served as the first senior presidential secretary for political affairs at the Blue House in the Lee Jae Myung administration.

The governor-elect is a former student activist who served as president of the Yonsei University student council and the first vice chair of the National Council of Student Representatives. During the funeral of Lee Han-yeol in 1987, who died after being struck by a police tear gas canister, he served as executive chair of the committee for the Democratic National Funeral. He entered the National Assembly in the 17th general election in 2004 as a member of the Uri Party. He won four terms (17th, 19th, 20th, and 21st) in the Seodaemun A district of Seoul. He served as spokesperson for the Uri Party, the United New Democratic Party, the United Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party, and was called ‘the mouth of the Democratic Party’.

In 2016, during the period of the abuse of state power by former President Park Geun-hye, he was the Democratic Party floor leader and persuaded lawmakers of the then-ruling Saenuri Party to bring about passage of the impeachment motion against the former president. After he failed in his bid in the primary for the 2021 Seoul mayoral by-election, he became the first among the party faction known as the 86 group to announce that he would not run in the 2024 general election.