Kim Young-hwan

Kim Young-hwan (, born 27 May 1955) is a South Korean activist, writer, dentist, and politician who served as the Minister of Science and Technology from 2001 to 2002 under President Kim Dae-jung.

Kim was born in Goesan, North Chungcheong Province, in 1955.

After graduating from Cheongju High School in 1973, he studied dentistry at Yonsei University.

In 1977, he was detained for 2 years due to leading a protest to abolish the Restoration Constitution.

He was also involved in anti-dictatorship protests in 1980.

Kim also wrote several poems, including A Day of a Simple Assembler (단순 조립공의 하루) written under the pseudonym of Kim Hae-yoon (김해윤).

Kim married Chun Eun-joo in 1985, who is a cousin to Yang Hyun-suk, the former Chief Executive Officer of YG Entertainment.

Both have a son and two daughters.

Following his graduation in 1988, he opened a hospital.

Kim Young-hwan was brought into the National Congress for New Politics in 1995 along with Kim Geun-tae, with whom he built a close relationship as a labourer.

He was also a long-term member of the National Assembly in Ansan from 1996 to 2004 and 2009 to 2016.

He ran in the 1996 election and was elected.

Following his re-election in 2000, he was appointed the Minister of Science and Technology in 2001.

By the time of his appointment, he was the youngest person serving the position.

In 2003, when the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) was split after the dissidents formed the new party named Uri Party, Kim remained at the MDP.

He failed to be re-elected in the 2004 election.

Then, he returned as a dentist for a while.

He launched a bid for Seoul mayorship in 2006, but his party chose Park Joo-sun instead.

He harshly criticised the party's decision and warned he could leave the party.

Kim returned to the National Assembly following his election in the 2009 by-election.

In 2012, he announced his bid to run as the President of the Republic but lost at the preselection.

In 2016, Kim joined the People's Party formed by Ahn Cheol-soo.

He stood again as an MP candidate in the 2016 election but lost to Kim Cheol-min.

Shortly after that, he was appointed the Secretary-General of his party.

He resigned on 10 November due to the disagreement with the party's decision to join outdoor rallies against the President of the Republic, Park Geun-hye involved in a political scandal.

In January 2017, he ran for the party presidency but lost to Park Jie-won; instead, he was elected as one of the Vice Presidents.

He stood for the Gyeonggi governorship in 2018 but lost.

Prior to the local elections in 2018, Kim was selected as the Bareunmirae candidate for Gyeonggi governorship.

He harshly condemned the Democratic candidate Lee Jae-myung for being connected to various controversies, but ended up with 4.8%, coming behind Lee Jae-myung and Nam Kyung-pil.

He ran for the party presidency on 2 September but lost.

In February 2020, Kim joined the United Future Party and was elected as one of the vice presidents.