36.86%.
This is the vote share won by Heo Seung-gyu, the Green Party Korea candidate, in the Ma district for Andong City Council in the June 3 local elections. In the two-member Ma district, Heo beat the second-place winner, Kim Chang-hyeon of the People Power Party (25.87%), by more than 10 percentage points to win. It was the first elected official produced by Green Party Korea, founded in 2012, and the only case in which a minor party candidate won in the Daegu–North Gyeongsang region in this election.
Born in 1989 and still in his 30s, how did a young minor-party candidate manage to be elected to the city council in Andong, a conservative stronghold? He even took an overwhelming first place, ahead of the two major-party candidates. ChosunBiz conducted a written interview with Heo, who is focusing on his council work in Andong.
◇Third try… 16.54% becomes 36.86%
After attending elementary, middle, and high school in Andong, Councilor Heo graduated from Yonsei University with a degree in political science and international studies. After joining Green Party Korea in 2015, he committed to local activism and first ran for city council in the 2018 local elections. Councilor Heo said, "I thought Korea needed Green Party Korea, which aims for the values of life and peace in society and politics, but in my experience, few in the party aspired to be career politicians," adding, "Since I had dreamed of becoming a career politician since my youth, I ran for Andong City Council in 2018."
In 2018, Councilor Heo won 16.54% of the vote and finished fourth, losing the race. He continued to knock on the door of public office. In the 2022 local elections, he received 18% of the vote and finished third, losing again, and in the 2024 general election, he ran on the proportional list of the Green-Justice Party alliance and was placed second on the list, but the alliance failed to reach 3%, resulting in another loss. This election was his third attempt at a city council seat and his fourth attempt at public office.
But in this election, Councilor Heo won 36.87% of the vote to take first place. His vote share doubled in four years from 18% in 2022. What changed?
Councilor Heo said, "I earned support through bottom-up, community-embedded activities and grassroots everyday politics that prioritize the local over central political logic." He explained that even if voters supported the red or blue party for lawmaker or mayor, for basic councilor they chose Heo Seung-gyu and Green Party Korea, who were always on the ground locally.
Since first running in 2018, Councilor Heo has not left Andong and has consistently stayed on the ground, serving with the Gangnam-dong residents' council, the local social security council, the village welfare promotion team, the volunteer neighborhood watch, and the Andong wildfire victims' countermeasures committee. He said, "I met residents who support the People Power Party but find our neighborhood buses inconvenient, and residents who support the Democratic Party of Korea but urgently need recovery from wildfire damage."
To meet residents more closely, he took a Zumba class at the neighborhood community sports center, and whenever filial piety parties for seniors in towns and townships were held, he always attended and spent time together.
Deep local engagement quickly led to identifying policies and pledges that residents wanted, because he could hear their real voices. The free buses for teenagers policy he proposed in this election is one of them. Councilor Heo said, "There are 18 Andong city councilors, and at least one of them should understand bus-riding citizens well," adding, "There are many inconveniences when taking buses in Andong. We will improve the bus environment for teenagers and seniors who have difficulty getting to school and hospitals."
He emphasized, "Of the nine cities and counties in northern North Gyeongsang, six provide free buses for all residents, and three, including Andong, provide free buses for seniors 70 and older," adding, "The free bus policy has multiple effects, including improving citizens' mobility rights, revitalizing the local economy, and responding to the climate crisis through carbon reduction."
◇Andong City Council where red, blue, white, and green coexist
News of Councilor Heo's win drew attention in Yeouido political circles as well. That is because a young politician from Green Party Korea—a party unfamiliar even in Seoul—won in Daegu–North Gyeongsang, which even the ruling Democratic Party could not crack. A Democratic Party lawmaker who once ran and lost in South Gyeongsang said, "To win in TK and PK without being the People Power Party candidate, you have to till the field so hard that you even memorize the names of who lives in each alley." It was a way of saying Heo's victory was that unusual.
Some also analyze it as a successful case of "split-ticket voting," which stood out in these local elections. Voters choose a familiar party for mayor or lawmaker, but for basic councilors, who are local workers, they pick people more embedded in the community regardless of party. A political insider said, "Councilor Heo's victory shows what strategies and mindset minor-party candidates or those running in disadvantaged regions should have in future local elections."
Councilor Heo said, "We need electoral reform that improves polarized politics and promotes multiparty coalition politics," while emphasizing, "For that to happen, alternative political forces must become organized political forces within the current electoral system." He said, "Conditions for a multiparty system are created when an alternative party that can compete with the two major parties enters the institutional arena," adding, "We need to produce winners within the current system and then demonstrate political efficacy to take a step toward a multiparty system."
Arguments that we should first fix the electoral system for a multiparty system are unlikely to be accepted in real-world politics. Councilor Heo said, "It is people who change systems," effectively stressing that minor parties must first prove what is possible before systems can be changed.
With Councilor Heo's election, Andong City Council, launched on July 1, now features red (People Power Party), blue (Democratic Party of Korea), white (independents), and green (Green Party Korea) coexisting. Councilor Heo said, "In the 8th and 9th popularly elected terms, Andong City Council saw many hardline confrontations," adding, "In the 10th council, we will pursue bipartisan cooperation beyond party colors for the sake of the region."
He emphasized, "I want to build a long-term sustainable green city in Andong," adding, "In this era of climate crisis, we will open the path to a green local government starting from Andong in North Gyeongsang."