Hong Joon-pyo won reelection in the South Gyeongsang Province gubernatorial election Wednesday, defeating Kim Kyoung-soo of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy.

He had a grueling campaign as his opponents bombarded him with criticism over his push to close a debt-ridden public hospital in Jinju and failure to address residents’ health concerns over the construction of electricity transmission lines in Miryang.

He has also taken much flak for his remarks in a media interview that indicated he thought of the provincial chief post as a stepping stone for the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential primary in 2017.

But his ambitious pledges to revitalize the local economy by attracting high-tech industries to the region and through other promising projects appear to have appealed to the voters in the province, a stronghold for the ruling party.

Before being elected as governor in a by-election in December 2012, Hong served in various high-level posts in the Grand National Party, the precursor to the ruling Saenuri Party. The posts included the party’s chairman, floor leader and Supreme Council member.

During his career in the conservative party, the prosecutor-turned-politician was known as a maverick or quixotic figure for his unsparing criticism of opposition lawmakers or even fellow party politicians ― part of the reason he had been seen as a non-mainstreamer in the party until he took the party helm in July 2011.

Hong rose to social stardom as a state prosecutor investigating a slot machine gambling case in 1993. He also investigated high-profile cases such as the labor-management dispute of Hyundai Heavy Industries in 1987 and organized crime in the early 1990s.

Born in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, in 1954, Hong went to school in Daegu and majored in law at Korea University in Seoul. Upon passing the national bar exam, he became a state prosecutor. Hong earned his first parliamentary seat in 1996.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)