Park Chan-dae

Park Chan-dae (; born 10 May 1967) is a South Korean accountant and politician who has served as the mayor of Incheon since 2026. Prior to this, he served as a member of the National Assembly from 30 May 2016 to 29 April 2026, and following the resignation of Lee Jae Myung on 9 April 2025 to run in the 2025 South Korean presidential election, Park served as the leader of Democratic Party of Korea from April to June 2025. He also served as the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea from 2024 to 2025.

Biography Early life and education Born on 10 May 1967 in Yonghyeon-dong, Incheon (then part of Gyeonggi Province), he is the youngest between three sons and one daughter. His family were from Andong, North Gyeongsang Province and moved to Incheon just before he was born. During his childhood, he attended and graduated from Incheon YongHyeon Elementary School, Incheon Daegeon Middle School, and Dong Incheon High School.

After his graduation from high schools, in 1984, he entered Bachelor of Business Administration, College of Business Administration, Inha University. During his tenure as university student, he played important role for student movement during military role of Chun Doo-hwan, particularly as a participant of June Democratic Struggle. After graduated from Inha University, he served at the Republic of Korea Armed Forces in 1988 as administrative officer of 31st Infantry Division unit, and was discharged on 27 December 1990. After discharged from military, he entered Graduate School of Public Administration (GSPA) at Seoul National University and got a Master's degree in 1998.

From 1997 to 1999, he worked in the International Department of Sedong Accounting Corporation, and from 1999 to 2000, he worked in the International Department of Samil Accounting Corporation. From 2001 to 2003, he worked in the Accounting Supervision Bureau and the Information Disclosure Supervision Bureau of the Financial Supervisory Service. From 2003 until December 2015, he was the head of the Gyeongin Branch of Hanmi Accounting Corporation, and also the vice president of the company.

Political career In 2009, Park joined the Democratic Party due to death of former President Roh Moo-hyun. In 2012, he attempted to run for the 2012 South Korean legislative election from United Democratic Party for Nam B, but was unsuccessful due to his nomination for the district was transferred to Ahn Gwi-ok because of the principle of preferential nomination for women. Nevertheless, he followed the party's policy for the time being and served as the Incheon City Party spokesperson in the 2012 legislative election. In December 2015, he was the head of the Incheon regional branch of the Democratic Party and became an adjunct professor at the Department of Business Administration at Inha University.

He was campaigned for the 2016 legislative election and entered the National Assembly for the first time after he won by a margin of 0.29% against Saenuri Party's challenger Jeong Seung-yeon for Yeonsu A District. In 2017, he was deputy head of the campaign for presidential candidate Moon Jae-in, who won the election. From May 2019 to May 2020, he was the press secretary of the Democratic Party. In September 2019, he joined the Special Committee on Prosecutor's Office Reform of the Democratic Party.

In the 2026 South Korean local elections, Park was elected as the mayor of Incheon, defeating People Power Party nominee and incumbent mayor Yoo Jeong-bok by nearly ten percentage points. After his victory, Park emphasized the immediate launch of a 100-day emergency project for economic recovery.

Electoral history General elections

Local elections Mayor of Incheon Election Year Constituency Political party Votes (%) Remarks 9th Iocal Election 2026 Incheon(Mayoral Elections) Democratic 809,426 (52.84%) Won