Jeon Hae-cheol

Jeon Hae-cheol (, born on 18 May 1962) is a South Korean lawyer and politician who served as the Minister of the Interior and Safety from 2020 to 2022. He formerly served as the Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs from 2006 to 2007, under the then President Roh Moo-hyun.

He has also been the Member of the National Assembly for Sangnok 1st constituency since 2012. He is one of the key figures of the pro-Moon Jae-in, as well as one of "3 Cheols (3철)". His father was originally from Pyongyang, but had moved to Mokpo during the Korean War. He is the youngest among the 5 siblings. He had completed his high school education at Masan Central High School, he was qualified for the bar in 1987. The case was controversial as the then South Korean government under Chun Doo-hwan was reported manipulating the case.

Political career In the 1997 presidential election, Jeon helped Kwon Young-ghil, the candidate of the National Victory for Development 21, who was not elected.

In 2004, the opposition MPs had voted 193 to 2 in favour of the impeachment of the President Roh, where the de facto ruling Uri Party was excluded. Jeon was one of the key figures to form a counsel to defend Roh. who later became the President. Being just unofficially 44 years old (officially 43), he was the youngest person to hold the position. He then contested for Sangnok 1st constituency under the banner of the United Democratic Party (UDP), but was defeated by the GNP candidate Lee Hwa-soo.

Member of the National Assembly In the 2012 election, Jeon contested again for Sangnok 1st constituency under the banner of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) banner. He was challenged by the then ruling Saenuri candidate Park Sun-hee, but Jeon was still leading at several pollings.

As the presidential election was in December of the year, Jeon worked close to the DUP presidential candidate Moon Jae-in. However, on 21 October, approximately 2 months before the election, he withdrew from the presidential campaign following the public backlash for being "too pro-Roh Moo-hyun". In the election, Moon finally lost to the Saenuri candidate Park Geun-hye.

In the 2016 election, Jeon again faced another challenge from Lee Hwa-soo, who had defeated him 8 years before. Despite vote splitting of the People's Party (PP), he received 35,481 votes and defeated the Saenuri candidate with a margin of 9,152 votes. On 21 August, he was elected the Democratic Party's Chairman for Gyeonggi, defeating Lee Un-ju.

Prior to the 2018 party leadership election, Jeon was one of the potential candidate for the party presidency. He, however, announced he would not run for the position on 15 July.

In the 2020 election, Jeon faced a challenge from the United Future Party (UFP) candidate Park Ju-won, the former Mayor of Ansan who contested under the banner of the now-defunct PP 4 years ago. He received 58.55% and defeated the former Ansan Mayor.

On 28 April 2020, following the victory of the Democratic Party in the general election, Jeon announced his bid for the party's parliamentary leadership. He, however, lost to Kim Tae-nyeon. On 16 July, he was elected the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the National Assembly.

2018 local elections Prior to the 2018 local elections, Jeon was widely considered as the potential candidate for Gyeonggi governorship. The position was succeeded by Park Kwang-on.

On 6 March, the same day when the South Chungcheong Governor Ahn Hee-jung had resigned over rape controversy, Jeon officially launched his bid for Gyeonggi governorship. On the day, he promised to hold a referendum to separate the northern part of the province. He received approximately 36.80%, while Lee received 59.96%. and subsequently helped Lee to win, several pro-Moon Jae-in supporters did not accept the result; some even protested that they would rather vote the incumbent and the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) candidate Nam Kyung-pil. On the other hand, Lee won the election, despite several controversies.

Minister of the Interior and Safety On 4 December 2020, Jeon was designated the new Minister of the Interior and Safety by the President Moon Jae-in, replacing the incumbent Chin Young. He was officially appointed to the position on 24 December.

Personal life He married Chang Sun-hui and has a son and a daughter. His son was exempted from the national service due to scoliosis.

Election results Year Elections Constituency Political party Votes (%) Remarks 2008 18th National Assembly General Election Gyeonggi Ansan Sangnok A UDP 18,054 (30.08%) Defeated 2012 19th National Assembly General Election Gyeonggi Ansan Sangnok A DUP 46,927 (60.76%) Won 2016 20th National Assembly General Election Gyeonggi Ansan Sangnok A DPK 35,481 (38.80%) Won 2020 21st National Assembly General Election Gyeonggi Ansan Sangnok A DPK 59,021 (58.55%) Won