Main opposition picks supreme council member as candidate for Gyeonggi Province Gov.

▲ This file photo, taken April 26, 2026, shows Yang Hyang-ja, a supreme council member of the main opposition People Power Party who has declared her bid for Gyeonggi Province governor in the June 3 local elections. (Yonhap)

PPP-governor bid

Main opposition picks supreme council member as candidate for Gyeonggi Province Gov.

SEOUL, May 2 (Yonhap) -- Yang Hyang-ja, a member of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP)'s supreme council, was nominated as the party's candidate for Gyeonggi Province governor in the June 3 local elections, the party said Saturday.

The PPP's nomination committee announced the results of a primary held from Thursday to Friday.

Yang is widely known for rising to the rank of an executive at Samsung Electronics in 2014 after joining the company as a vocational high school graduate without a college degree in 1985.

Her political career began in 2016 when she was recruited by former President Moon Jae-in, then leader of the Democratic Party (DP). She was elected to the National Assembly in 2020.

In the upcoming election, Yang will compete against DP Rep. Choo Mi-ae, a six-term lawmaker who served as justice minister under the Moon administration, to secure the governorship of South Korea's most populous province with about 14 million people.

Eyes are on whether she will unify her candidacy with the minor New Reform Party candidate, Cho Eung-chon.

With Yang's nomination, the PPP has completed its candidates for all 16 major provincial and metropolitan mayoral races nationwide.

If either Yang or Choo wins the election, they will become the first female governor of a metropolitan government.

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