Sim Dae-pyeong

Sim Dae-pyeong (Korean: 심대평; born April 7, 1941) is a former Governor of South Chungcheong Province in South Korea.

Life

Sim Dae-pyeong was born on April 7, 1941, in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, as the eldest of two sons and three daughters of Sim Jae-gap, an education superintendent. After passing the civil service examination in 1966, he served as Mayor of Uijeongbu, Mayor of Daejeon, Governor of South Chungcheong Province, Director of the Administrative Coordination Office, Senior Secretary for Administration in the Blue House, and as an elected Governor of South Chungcheong Province, as well as Vice Chairman of the United Liberal Democrats. In January 2006, he founded the Center Party and became its leader. In April 2007, he ran in the by-election for Daejeon Seo-gu B, which was vacated following the death of Gu Non-hoi, a member of the Uri Party. Benefiting from his local ties and the Uri Party's decision not to field a candidate, he defeated the Grand National Party candidate Lee Jae-seon and won the seat. He ran as the Center Party candidate in the 17th presidential election, but on December 3 he declared his support for independent candidate Lee Hoi-chang and withdrew his candidacy. On February 12, 2008, the Center Party merged into the Liberty Forward Party, and he became the first leader of the Liberty Forward Party. He then moved his constituency to Gongju–Yeongi for the 18th general election and was elected.