Shim Wan-koo

In this Korean name, the family name is Shim.

Shim Wan-koo (Korean: 심완구; Hanja: 沈完求; RR: Sim Wangu; 1 July 1938 – 8 June 2020)^[1][2] was a South Korean politician who served as the first elected Mayor of Ulsan. He was a member of the National Assembly from 1985 to 1992.

Shim Wan-koo
심완구
Mayor of Ulsan
In office 15 July 1997 – 30 June 2002
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Park Maeng-woo
Member of the National Assembly
In office 30 May 1988 – 29 May 1992
Constituency	Ulsan Nam-gu
In office 13 May 1985 – 29 May 1988
Preceded by	Ko Won-jun Lee Kyu-jung
Constituency	Ulsan Ulju County
Personal details
Born	(1938-07-01)1 July 1938 Daehyeon-myeon, Ulsan-gun, Korea, Empire of Japan
Died	8 June 2020(2020-06-08) (aged 81) Seocho, Seoul, South Korea
Other political affiliations	Grand National Party Democratic Liberal Party Reunification Democratic Party Democratic Korea Party
Korean name
Hangul	심완구
Hanja	沈完求
RR	Sim Wangu
MR	Sim Wan'gu

Early life and education

Shim was born in Songho Village, Yaum-ri, Daehyeon-myeon, Ulsan-gun, Keishōnan Province (South Gyeongsang Province), Korea, Empire of Japan on July 1, 1938. He graduated from Sungkyunkwan University; majoring in economics.

Political career

Member of the National Assembly and Mayor of Ulsan (1985–2002)

Shim ran for the Ulsan-Ulju County electoral district in the 1981 South Korean legislative election and but came in third place with only 18.44% of the vote.^{[citation needed]} He ran for the same electoral district in the 1985 South Korean legislative election and was elected along with Kim Tae-ho of the ruling Democratic Justice Party.^[3] He ran under the Reunification Democratic Party for the Ulsan Nam-gu electoral district in the 1988 South Korean legislative election and was elected for a four-year term. He ran for the same district in the 1992 South Korean legislative election, but lost to Cha Soo-myung.

Shim was elected as Mayor of Ulsan in 1995, however as Ulsan took its current form as a metropolitan city on July 15, 1997; making Shim's official term start from July 15, 1997.^[4]

He left the conservative Grand National Party on September 14, 1998, and joined the more liberal National Congress for New Politics that was led by Kim Dae-jung. He was sentenced to jail in 2002 for accepting bribery from a construction company, but all charges against him were dropped and he was later pardoned by Roh Moo-hyun.^[5]

After serving as Mayor of Ulsan (2002–2020)

While Shim supported conservative candidate Lee Myung-bak during the 2007 South Korean presidential election,^[6] he supported liberal candidate Moon Jae-in during the 2012 South Korean presidential election.^[7] He supported Song Cheol-ho's campaign for Mayor of Ulsan in 2018.^[8]