| Youn Kwan-suk | |
| Native Name Lang: | ko |
| Birth Date: | 17 August 1960 |
| Birth Place: | Yongsan, Seoul, South Korea |
| Citizenship: | South Korean |
| Office1: | Secretary-General of the Democratic Party |
| President1: | Song Young-gil |
| Term Start1: | 4 May 2021 |
| Term End1: | 24 November 2021 |
| Predecessor1: | Park Kwang-on |
| Successor1: | Kim Yeong-jin |
| Office2: | Member of the National Assembly |
| Constituency2: | Namdong 2nd |
| Term Start2: | 30 May 2012 |
| Predecessor2: | Cho Jun-hyuk |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Otherparty: | MDP (2000-2003) Uri (2003-2007) GUDNP (2007-2008) UDP (2008) Democratic (2008-2011) DUP (2011-2013) Democratic Party (2013-2014) NPAD (2014-2015) |
| Alma Mater: | Hanyang University |
| Spouse: | Chang Ji-sun |
| Occupation: | Activist, labourer, politician |
Youn Kwan-suk (born 17 August 1960) is a South Korean activist, labourer and politician who served Secretary-General of the Democratic Party from 4 May to 24 November 2021. He has also been the Member of the National Assembly for Namdong 2nd constituency since 2012.
Born in Yongsan, Seoul, Youn attended Posung High School[1] before majoring journalism at Hanyang University.[2] [3] [4]
Following the graduation, he used to be involved in labour movements in Incheon from 1985.[1] [2] [3] [4] After that, he had also worked at civil organisations before joining politics as a member of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) in 2000.[1] [2] [3] [4] He became the Uri Party Division Chief of Namdong 2nd constituency and Secretary-General of Incheon in 2004.[1] [2] [3] [4] During the 2008 election, he served as the Head of the Election Polling Committee of the United Democratic Party (UDP) in Incheon.[1] He became the Spokesperson to Hong Young-pyo, who was contesting for the 2009 Bupyeong 2nd by-election; Hong was later elected.[1]
After Song Young-gil was elected the Mayor of Incheon in 2010, Youn became the Spokesperson of Incheon.[1] [2] [4] He then contested for Namdong 2nd constituency in the 2012 election and was elected.[2] [4] On 26 September 2012, he was appointed the new Parliamentary Spokesperson of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), replacing Woo Won-shik who moved to the presidential campaign of Moon Jae-in that lost to Park Geun-hye the 2012 presidential election.[1] [5] When Park nominated Yoon Chang-jung, Youn urged Yoon to resign.[6]
In the 2016 election, Youn became the opposition unity candidate for Namdong 2nd following the resignation of Hong Jung-gun (People's Party) and an agreement with Bae Jin-gyo (Justice Party).[7] He received 55.49% and defeated Cho Jun-hyuk with a margin of 13.67%.[8] After Choo Mi-ae became the President of the Democratic Party, he was appointed the Chief Spokesperson of the party.[9] On 14 February 2018, he was appointed the Democratic Party Incheon chief following the resignation of Park Nam-choon that contested for the Incheon mayorship in the local elections.[10] [11]
In the 2020 election, Youn obtained 54.57% and defeated the former MP Rhie Won-bok.[12] [13] On 4 May 2021, he was appointed the Secretary-General of the Democratic Party under the newly elected party President Song Young-gil.[14] [15]
| Year | Constituency | Political party | Votes (%) | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Namdong 2nd | 33,701 (43.90%) | Won | ||
| 2016 | Namdong 2nd | 66,136 (55.49%) | Won | ||
| 2020 | Namdong 2nd | 78,795 (54.57%) | Won |