| Nowon B | |
| Type: | Single-member |
| Parl Name: | National Assembly |
| District Label: | District(s) |
| Region Label: | Region |
| Region: | Seoul |
| Electorate: | 211,043 |
| Year: | 1988 |
| Elects Howmany: | 1 |
| Seats: | 1 |
| Party Label: | Party |
| Party: | Democratic Party |
| Member: | Kim Sung-hwan |
| Previous: | Dobong |
Nowon B is a constituency of the National Assembly of South Korea. The constituency consists of parts of Nowon District, Seoul. As of 2024, 211,043 eligible voters were registered in the constituency. The constituency was created in 1988 from the Dobong constituency.
Since its establishment, Nowon B has elected members of the Democratic Party and predecessor parties in all but two elections and is thus regarded as a stronghold for the Democratic Party.[1]
Kim Yong-chae of the right-wing New Democratic Republican Party was the first member to represent Nowon B, narrowly defeating Lim Chae-jung of the centre-left Peace Democratic Party by a little over 1,000 votes.[2] In the following election, Kim Yong-chae had initially won re-election by a margin of thirty-six votes. However, after it was discovered that a bundle of one hundred votes were mixed up and not counted properly, a recount was performed. The recount declared Lim Chae-jung of the centre-left Democratic Party the winner with only 172 votes separating him from incumbent Kim Yong-chae.[3] [4] [5] Lim won re-election in 1996 and 2000, but did not stand for re-election for Nowon B in 2004, running as the Uri Party candidate for the newly created Nowon C constituency instead.[6] Lim was succeeded by Woo Won-shik of the Uri Party who defeated Kwon Young-jin of the centre-right Grand National Party.[7] In a return match held at the next election, Kwon Young-jin defeated Woo, garnering 49.93% of the vote while Woo received 44.09%.[8] In the 2012 election, Woo and Kwon faced off again; Woo ended up narrowly defeating incumbent Kwon Young-jin by a margin of 1.78%.[9] Woo comfortably won re-election in 2016 and 2020, receiving 51.95 and 62.67% of the vote respectively.[10]
Ahead of the 2024 South Korean legislative election, the Nowon C constituency was abolished as a result of a decrease in population in Nowon District.[11] Incumbent member Woo Won-shik ran in the Nowon A constituency after beating incumbent Koh Yong-jin in a primary and Nowon C incumbent Kim Sung-hwan was nominated as the Democratic Party's candidate for Nowon B.[12] [13] Kim Sung-hwan went on to win in the general election with 58.51% of the vote.[14] [15]
The constituency encompasses Junggye 1-dong, Junggye 4-dong, and Sanggye-dong. It borders the constituencies of Uijeongbu B to the north, Dobong A and Dobong B to the west, Nowon A to the south, and Namyangju B to the east.
| Election | Member | Party | Dates | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Kim Yong-chae | New Democratic Republican | 1988–1992 | ||
| 1992 | Lim Chae-jung | Democratic | 1992–2004 | ||
| 1996 | National Congress | ||||
| 2000 | Millennium Democratic | ||||
| 2004 | Woo Won-shik | Uri | 2004–2008 | ||
| 2008 | Kwon Young-jin | Grand National | 2008–2012 | Deputy Mayor of Seoul (2006–2007) | |
| 2012 | Woo Won-shik | Democratic United | 2012–2024 | ||
| 2016 | Democratic | ||||
| 2020 | |||||
| 2024 | Kim Sung-hwan | 2024–present | Mayor of Nowon District (2010–2018) | ||