Yoo Song-hwa (Korean유송화; Hanja兪松和; born 6 April 1968) is a South Korean politician previously served as the Director of the Chunchugwan Press Center at the Blue House under President Moon Jae-in[1][2] - the third woman to assume such post.[3]

Yoo Song-hwa
유송화
Image of Yoo Song-hwa
Director of the Chunchugwan Press Center at the Blue House
In office
9 January 2019 – 15 January 2020
PresidentMoon Jae-in
Preceded byKwon Hyuk-ki
Succeeded byHan Jung-woo
Private Secretary to the First Lady
In office
17 May 2017 – 8 January 2019
Succeeded byShin Jee-yeon
Personal details
Born (1968-04-06) 6 April 1968 (age 56)
Goheung County, South Jeolla Province, South Korea
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materEwha Womans University
University of Seoul
Dongguk University

Upon the beginning of Moon's presidency, Yoo was appointed as the Private Secretary to the First Lady Kim Jung-sook.[4] As part of the Blue House staffer reshuffle in January 2019, she was promoted as the Director of the Press Center, Chunchugwan, at the Blue House, the only secretary-level staff at the Office of the President not working at secretariat buildings. She is the third woman to assume the post after Kim Hyun and Seo Young-kyo who were appointed by President Roh Moo-hyun 11 years ago.[3]

In January 2020, Yoo resigned the post to stand for the upcoming general election in April.[2] She applied to run as her party's candidate for Seoul Nowon A constituency[5] but lost the primary to the incumbent Ko Yong-jin (Korean고용진).[6]

Yoo previously served as a Nowon District Council member from 1995 to 2002.[5] In 2002 election, she was placed as the number 6 of the proportional list but could not be elected as a Seoul Metropolitan Council member. In 2003 she joined then-President-elect Roh Moo-hyun's transition team and later Offices of Senior Presidential Secretaries for civil societies and personnel affairs. She later worked for her party as public relations staff and later standing deputy spokesperson.[7] In 1988 she was the president of Ewha Womans University's student union.[8]

Yoo holds two degrees - a bachelor in economics from Ewha Womans University and a master's in urban administration from University of Seoul. She also completed a doctorate programme on North Korean studies at Dongguk University.[9]

Electoral history

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Election Year Post Party Affiliation Votes Percentage of votes Results
1st Local Election 1995 Member of Nowon District Council Independent 3,069 30.63% Won
2nd Local Election 1998 Member of Nowon District Council Independent 4,335 55.18% Won
3rd Local Election 2002 Member of Seoul Metropolitan Council (proportional representation) Democratic Party (2000) 1,277,362 37.04% Lost

References

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  1. ^ "In year's 2nd reshuffle, Moon taps 6 secretaries". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  2. ^ a b "Cheong Wa Dae undergoing exodus of officials ahead of April general election". The Korea Times. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  3. ^ a b "11년 만에 여성 청와대 춘추관장…김현·서영교 이어 3번째". 아시아경제 (in Korean). 2019-01-09. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  4. ^ "속도붙는 청와대 인선…공직기강비서관 김종호". 매일경제 (in Korean). 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  5. ^ a b "유송화 前 춘추관장, 노원갑 출마…"제2의 고향위해 뛰겠다"".
  6. ^ "논란의 '서울 노원갑' 유송화, 고용진에 패배...손금주·정은혜 탈락". BBS NEWS (in Korean). 2020-03-03. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  7. ^ "유송화 '일편당심'이 꽃을 피웠네". (주)뉴스앤뉴스TV (in Korean). Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  8. ^ "노원신문". nowon.newsk.com. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  9. ^ "유송화 :: 네이버 인물검색". people.search.naver.com. Retrieved 2020-09-07.