The director of the Institute for Unification Education and the first North Korean defector to reach the top level in South Korea’s civil service, Choi Myung Chul has been confirmed as the Saenuri Party’s no. 4 proportional representation candidate. Since the top twenty such candidates are almost certain to be elected, Choi seems set to become the first North Korean defector elected to the South Korean National Assembly.
Choi graduated from Kim Il Sung University and worked as a professor of economics until his defection in 1994. He is now recognized not only as a civil servant but also as an expert researcher for his work with the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.
The idea behind placing Choi at the front of the proportional representation line-up is to improve the North Korea expertize of the Saenuri Party and enhance North Korea and unification policymaking.
Choi was among 46 proportional representation candidates confirmed by the Saenuri Party on the 20th. The no.1 candidate is Min Byung Ju, a researcher with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, followed by Kim Jung Rok, the president of Korea Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities.
It is likely that North Korea will harshly criticize the confirmation of Choi as the no. 4 candidate. However, if so it will not be the first time; when he entered the government elite via the Institute for Unification Education last year, North Korea criticized the decision, calling him “human scum.”
