Ko Wen-je

Ko Wen-je (born 6 August 1960; also known by his nickname, Ko P ) is a Taiwanese politician and physician who served as the mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022.

Between August 1986 and September 1988, Ko served in the 269th mechanized infantry division of the Republic of China Army to fulfill his military service obligation.

He was a combat medic with the rank of second lieutenant.

On graduation, Ko placed first nationwide on the medical license exams and received his medical license.

On the advice of his professor, Dr. Chu Shu-hsun, Ko decided to specialize in surgery and critical care within the department of Emergency Medicine, working on the front lines of the emergency room.

After working in emergency services for 11 years, Ko traveled to the United States in 1993 for a one-year clinical fellowship program on artificial liver research at the University of Minnesota under Wei-Shou Hu.

After returning to Taiwan in 1994, Ko continued to work in the emergency room while at the same time beginning his Ph.D. studies at NTU.

With an invitation from Dr. Chu Shu-hsun, Ko helped found NTU's first organ transplant team, with the goal of performing heart transplants.

Hoping to increase the transplant success rate, Ko introduced ECMO treatment from the US, and improved the transplant success rate from 19% to 51%.

Aside from his work improving medical technology in Taiwan, Ko has since the year 2000 participated in many foreign medical conferences in the People's Republic of China (PRC), where he was also responsible for introducing ECMO treatment to the nation.

In 2002, Ko received his PhD degree in clinical medicine from NTU.

On 15 July 2006, Ko wrote an article for the Min Sheng Daily titled "Reflections, Errors, and Apologies: Chao Chien-ming" that received considerable media attention and led to a number of politics-related interviews.

On 18 November, Ko used ECMO to save the life of Shirley Shaw, wife of Taichung Mayor Jason Hu, who had fallen into a coma after a car accident.

This incident in particular and the media attention it drew caused Ko Wen-je to become a household name.

On 30 January 2008, Ko set a world record of 117 consecutive days for keeping a patient alive using ECMO.

Using US treatment standards as a guide, Ko established a set of standards for organ transplant procedures in Taiwan that was later promulgated throughout Taiwan by the Department of Health.

In 2010, Ko introduced the American concept of integrated care to Taiwan, and established the Integrated Care Unit at NTU Hospital with the aim of reducing treatment cost and improving quality of treatment and quality of life for the attendant doctors and nurses.

Ko directed the emergency care team that treated Sean Lien (Lien Sheng-wun) for critical wounds after he was shot in the face at close range with a 9mm pistol on 26 November.

Lien recovered quickly, which led the media to speculate about the veracity of his story, but Ko quickly came forward to verify his claims.

On 24 August 2011, Ko was held responsible for an organ transplant error and subsequently reprimanded by National Taiwan University Hospital and the Ministry of Health of Taiwan.

He was the acting director for a standard organ transplant procedure in which 5 patients received transplants from a coma patient who was HIV-positive.

In 2012, the Control Yuan accused Ko of misconduct for violating organ transplant procedures.

In May 2013, the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice suspected Ko of involvement in the misappropriation of National Science Council funds by creating fraudulent receipts, and asked Ko for an itemized list of payment details.

Ko was thus drawn into the Accounting Act Amendment scandal, but the Control Yuan never brought charges.

In June that year, Ko's emergency trauma care student Dr. Tseng Yue-tsee was hit by a drunk driver and sustained major trauma.

In the 2014 Taipei Mayoral Election, Ko ran as an independent candidate.

He beat Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Pasuya Yao in the unofficial primary, gaining support from the DPP and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU).

Ko won the election with 853,983 votes, becoming the first physician mayor of the city since the introduction of direct election to the office.

Ko was the official presidential nominee of the TPP for the 2024 Taiwanese presidential election.

He presented his campaign as a “third way” between DPP and Kuomintang (KMT), the two parties that have traditionally dominated Taiwan's political landscape.

Ko Wen-je grew up in a modest household.

His father, Ko Cheng-fa, had aspirations for Ko, as the eldest son, to become a medical doctor.

His mother is Ho Jui-ying.

After graduating from National Hsinchu Senior High School, Ko studied medicine for a year at National Yang-Ming University, before being accepted into the Medical School at NTU after resitting his university entrance exams.

He has been the chairman of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) since founding it in 2019.

Before becoming mayor, he was a doctor at National Taiwan University Hospital.

He was also a professor at National Taiwan University College of Medicine, and specialized in fields including trauma, intensive care, organ transplant, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and artificial organs.

Due to his profession, he has been nicknamed Ko P or KP (which stands for Professor Ko, and is how he is customarily referred to within National Taiwan University).

Ko was responsible for standardizing organ transplant procedures in Taiwan, and was the first physician to bring ECMO to Taiwan.

Apart from his practice, Ko is known for his numerous media appearances and interviews as a social and political commentator.