From medalists to celebrities… The birth of a star congressman

22nd National Assembly, ‘shooting emperor’ Jin Jong-oh and ‘shaving diva’ Ria enter
Lim Oh-gyeong, a national handball player, was also re-elected in Gwangmyeong Gap, Gyeonggi Province.
Hong Seong-woo, Lee Joo-il, Lee Soon-jae, Choi Bul-am… Past ‘star’ politicians

[이데일리 김혜선 기자] A ‘star member of the National Assembly’ will appear in Yeouido in the 22nd National Assembly. The main characters are People’s Future candidate Jin Jong-oh, a former Olympic medalist who ran as a proportional representative candidate in the April 10 general election, and Fatherland Innovation Party candidate Kim Jae-won, who worked as a singer Lia. People’s Future candidate Jin Jong-oh (left) and Fatherland Innovation Party candidate Kim Jae-won. . (Photo = Yonhap News) Candidate Jin Jong-oh, who received proportional number 4 in this general election, moved the stage of his activities from the stadium to the National Assembly. Candidate Jin is the ‘shooting emperor’ who won four Olympic gold medals in the pistol event. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, he became the first person in shooting history to win three consecutive Olympic titles. Candidate Jin retired from his career as a player in March of last year and was officially recruited by the People Power Party in February. In the subsequent general election, he helped Han Dong-hoon, chairman of the People Power Emergency Response Committee, with his campaign as the head of the joint campaign headquarters. Kim Jae-won, the candidate for the Fatherland Innovation Party, who was active as singer Ria, entered the National Assembly by receiving the proportional number 7. Lia made her debut in 1996 with her album ‘Diary’ and was called ‘the shaved diva’ for her short hair style. Lia, famous for her representative song ‘Tears’, declared her support for then Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myeong in the 20th presidential election, but she recently left the Democratic Party and joined the Cho Kuk Innovation Party.

Rep. Oh-kyung Lim, who is running for Gwangmyeong-gap, Gyeonggi-do, is a star recruited by the Democratic Party in the 21st general election. She is a member of the national handball team and is a medalist, winning a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She is also a model featured in the movie ‘The Best Moments of Our Lives’.

This is not the first time a star has participated in politics. In the political world, there were many cases of recruiting celebrities and sports figures with high recognition and using them as a general election campaign strategy. The first ‘star assemblyman’ was actor Hong Seong-woo. He was elected as an independent member of the Dobong-gu district in Seoul in the 10th general election in 1987. He was later elected to the 11th and 12th general elections as a member of the Democratic Justice Party, but lost in Nowon-gu, Seoul in the 14th general election.

In the 14th National Assembly in 1992, a large number of celebrity lawmakers were produced. Comedian Lee Joo-il ran for office in Guri City, Gyeonggi Province as a candidate for the Unification People’s Party and was elected, and actor Lee Soon-jae wore a gold badge as a proportional representative member of the Democratic Liberal Party. Kang Bu-ja and Choi Bul-am were also elected as proportional representatives of the Unification People’s Party and participated in legislative activities.

In the 15th general election, actors Shin Young-gyun and Jeong Han-yong served as members of the National Assembly, and in the 16th general election, actor Shin Seong-il was elected to the Daegu-dong constituency and entered Yeouido. Actress Kim Eul-dong, the granddaughter of General Kim Jwa-jin and the daughter of former lawmaker Kim Du-han, served as a member of the 18th and 19th National Assembly.

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