Won Hee-ryong of the ruling Saenuri Party has been elected governor of Jeju Province, where he was born in 1964, beating out the contender from the main opposition party with a large margin.

Won has continued to far surpass Shin Koo-bum of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy in approval ratings according to a variety of polls over the past few weeks. Pundits share the view that he could eventually target the 2017 or 2022 presidential elections.

The Jeju governor-elect has attained public recognition as a prosecutor-turned-lawmaker for more than 10 years. He earlier came under spotlight as one of the few figures projected to lead a drastic reform of conservative political power.

Won, who was elected an assemblyman of the governing party three times since 2000, initially expressed his resolution to run for the presidency back in 2006.

During his speech at a seminar hosted by a graduate school of Yonsei University, Won said, “I would like to become the president of Korea ― though it will not be this time (the 2007 presidential election) but several years later.”

He is also famous for taking the top place on the Korean Bar Examination in 1992.

Asked about his study skills, Won said he could naturally access a wide range of knowledge as his house was filled with thousands of books after his parents’ bookstore in Jungmun-dong, Seogwipo, failed when he was a teenager.

He graduated from Jeju Jeil High School and majored in law at Seoul National University. He later was granted an honorary doctorate from Jeju National University.

The 50-year-old governor-elect said the happiest moments in his life were the days his two daughters were born.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)