Chungcheongbuk-do governor shaves head to protest PPP candidate slate exclusion

Kim Young-hwan, the governor of Chungcheongbuk-do (North Chungcheong Province), publicly protested his party’s candidate decision by shaving his head on March 19. The move followed the People Power Party’s (PPP) nomination committee’s decision to exclude him from the party’s candidate slate on March 16.

In a video posted on his Facebook page before the shave, Kim said he was heading to the barber to cut his hair and used the moment to question the nomination process. He declared, “Only the residents of Chungbuk can cut me off,” and argued that public sentiment cannot be blocked by others. He added rhetorical questions about who would harm a colleague and insisted, “Only Chungbuk residents can cut me off.”

Kim further blasted the nomination process, saying, “The nomination committee is conducting shell-game politics to install Kim Soo-min as a replacement.” He also accused party officials of exploiting a comrade’s misfortune to advance a betrayal, saying, “I raised someone who would stab with a traitor’s knife in the wake of a comrade’s misfortune.”

Following the cutoff, the PPP’s Candidacy Nomination Management Committee opened applications for a substitute candidate. Reports noted that former lawmaker Kim Soo-min submitted an application, and there was persistent speculation that the party had a preferred replacement in mind.

Chungcheongbuk-do sits in central South Korea, with Cheongju as its capital. Local governance in this province matters for regional development, investment, and infrastructure projects that can affect local economies and business sentiment, including companies with operations in Korea’s manufacturing and tech supply chains.

For U.S. readers, the episode highlights how internal party decisions in a key U.S. ally can influence political stability, governance continuity, and policy direction at the regional level. Local elections in Korea shape economic priorities, regulatory environments, and the reliability of public services that affect foreign businesses and cross-border trade relationships.

The incident also illustrates a broader pattern in Korean politics, where candidates and party machinery can become flashpoints for protest and public messaging. The use of social media to broadcast grievances and the symbolic act of shaving one’s head underscore how personal narratives intersect with party strategy ahead of elections.