Yoon Young-chan, Naver’s executive vice president, recently joined the campaign team of Moon Jae-in, who is vying to be the Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate.

Moon’s election camp on Wednesday appointed Yoon as the chief of its social media campaign division. Yoon resigned from his post at Naver the same day.

Yoon, 53, graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in geography and joined the Dong-A Ilbo in 1990, where he covered politics, social affairs and culture and served as the head of the firm’s labor union.

In 2008, he joined Naver, the operator of the country’s biggest portal website, as the head of its media services division, which oversees the company’s public relations activities.

“Yoon has covered politics as a reporter and managed the contents services division for Korea’s biggest portal website. Given his credentials, Yoon is an excellent figure to oversee communication between Moon’s election camp and citizens,” an official from Moon’s campaign said.

South Korea’s presidential election will be held on May 9. Moon Jae-in is one of the strongest contenders in the race, with the highest support rating of 34.5 percent as of Wednesday, according to local pollster R&Search.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)