Lee In-je

Lee In-je (; born 11 December 1948) is a South Korean politician and a former judge who served as the Governor of Gyeonggi Province from 1995 to 1997.

Political career He was born in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province and graduated from Seoul National University. In 1988, he entered politics after having been elected to the National Assembly. He also served as the first Minister of Labor in President Kim Young-sam's administration in 1993, and the governor of Gyeonggi Province from 1995 to 1997.

In 1997, he was defeated by Lee Hoi-chang in the New Korea Party's election to choose its presidential candidate. Afterwards, he resigned from the party to create the New National Party to launch his ultimately unsuccessful run for the presidency. In 2002, he was one of the leading contenders to run for president as the nominee of the Millennium Democratic Party but resigned after being defeated by the ultimate presidential victor Roh Moo-hyun. In 2007, Rhee again ran for president as the nominee of the Democratic Party but was defeated by Grand National Party candidate Lee Myung-bak. He has stayed active in politics and in July 2014 was elected to the Supreme Council of Saenuri Party, then ruling party of the Republic of Korea. He has a special nickname: Phoenikje [a combination of Phoenix and (Rhee in) JE]. The nickname derives from his ability to change political party affiliation 16 times and be elected to the National Assembly a total of six times despite numerous past defeats in presidential elections and the fall of his affiliated parties. He ran for governor of South Chungcheong Province in the 2018 local elections but lost to Yang Seung-jo of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Election results Year Elections Constituency Political party Votes (%) Results 1988 13th National Assembly General Election Anyang A (Gyeonggi) RDP 29,325 (32.59%) Won 1992 14th National Assembly General Election Anyang A (Gyeonggi) DLP 39,232 (35.82%) Won 1995 1st Iocal Election Gyeonggi(Governoral Elections) DLP 1,264,914 (40.56%) Won 1997 1997 Presidential Election South Korea New National 4,925,591 (19.20%) Defeated 2000 16th National Assembly General Election Nonsan–Geumsan (South Chungcheong) MDP 66,957 (65.37%) Won 2004 17th National Assembly General Election Nonsan–Gyeryong–Geumsan (South Chungcheong) ULD 42,242 (44.85%) Won 2007 2007 Presidential Election South Korea Democratic 160,707 (0.68%) Defeated 2008 18th National Assembly General Election Nonsan–Gyeryong–Geumsan (South Chungcheong) Independent 23,595 (27.67%) Won 2012 19th National Assembly General Election Nonsan–Gyeryong–Geumsan (South Chungcheong) LFP 40,076 (42.36%) Won 2016 20th National Assembly General Election Nonsan–Gyeryong–Geumsan (South Chungcheong) Saenuri 44,165 (42.55%) Defeated 2018 7th Iocal Election South Chungcheong(Governoral Elections) LKP 345,577 (35.10%) Defeated