The Democratic Party of Korea has recruited Lim Moon-young, vice chair of the presidential National Artificial Intelligence Strategy Committee, to run in the parliamentary by-election for the Gwangsan-B district in Gwangju. The move follows the nomination of Ha Jung-woo, former presidential secretary for AI and future planning, as the party's candidate for the Busan Buk-A by-election, marking the second time a senior figure from the AI policy control tower has been redeployed to the National Assembly. While the Democratic Party is signaling its intent to accelerate AI-related legislation, concerns are also emerging over a potential vacuum in the AI policy command structure.
Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rae held a welcoming ceremony for recruited talent at the main National Assembly building on the morning of the 6th, introducing Lim as "an essential talent needed to actively support the Lee Jae-myung administration's AI policy at the National Assembly and party level." Lim will run in the Gwangsan-B parliamentary by-election, which was triggered by former lawmaker Min Hyung-bae's bid for mayor of the proposed Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City.
A Gwangju native, Lim is a first-generation information technology (IT) expert who served as Gyeonggi Province's chief information policy officer and chief future growth policy officer when President Lee Jae-myung was governor of Gyeonggi Province. "I majored in political science and diplomacy in university, but I believed technology would change the world more than politics, so I immersed myself in computers from my school days and earned a doctorate in technology management engineering," Lim said. "I will return to Gwangju and transform it into the most advanced city in the AI era."
If Lim succeeds in entering the National Assembly alongside Ha, synergy in AI policy between the party and the government is expected to grow. "I hope Vice Chair Lim, together with former Secretary Ha, will form a twin-engine team and play a major role in AI legislative activities in the National Assembly," Jung said. Lim responded, "I will cooperate closely with candidate Ha, who is running in Busan, and we will compete to see who performs better."
The Democratic Party also announced it will nominate Supreme Council member Park Ji-won for the Jeonbuk Gunsan-Gimje-Buan-B district, which became vacant following former lawmaker Lee Won-taek's bid for the Jeonbuk governorship.
Born in 1987, Park hails from Jeonju in Jeonbuk Province and was elected as the first rank-and-file Supreme Council member under Jung's leadership. While some had speculated that Park would not run in the by-election to avoid controversy over "self-nomination" as a member of the party leadership, the strengths of being a young politician were highlighted, leading to the final selection.
"I will join hands with Democratic Party candidates in the region and, as one team, pound the pavement to stir up the momentum of electoral victory starting in Jeonbuk," Park said. "I will serve as a solid backbone connecting the center and the region, and bridging the experience of senior generations with the future of younger generations."
The Democratic Party also announced strategic nominations of former lawmaker Kim Eui-kyeom for Jeonbuk Gunsan-Gimje-Buan-A, former Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries Kim Seong-beom for Seogwipo in Jeju, and district committee chair Park Hyung-ryong for Dalseong in Daegu.
