Newly elected provincial governor An Heejung is beginning his mission of making the new Chungnam. He was a Democratic Party candidate in the provincial governor election that ended on June 2, 2010 and won the election by receiving 367,288 votes or 42.3%.

Armed with heavy knowledge of local autonomy, the electee has a lot to offer to the residents of the province, who in turn expect a lot from him including broad political experiences, fast problem solving skills, new ideas for reform to escape the old customs, welfare policies around the common people and the weakest class, and building of infrastructure for the province's economic growth.

Mr. An was born in a family of two boys and three girls as the middle child in Nonsan-gun, Chungnam in 1964. His childhood memories were typical of those in the region, with him being a “regular country boy”, but he was the class president throughout elementary school and the school president in middle and high school. Graduating from Korea University, he joined the Korean Research Institute of Local Autonomy Practice to meet his passion for local autonomy. He entered the political scene at a young age and made a crucial contribution to the election victory of the 16th President Roh Moo-hyun.

His major concern is to help all the residents of the province live well. His principal public promises are as follows: balanced growth of South Korea around Chungnam; customized welfare for the socially weak, the disabled, and multicultural families formed through international marriage; creation of the Chungcheong regional economic zone; promotion of harbor development to activate its trade with China; foundation of a industry-academy-research reform cluster; promotion of small but powerful global small- or medium-sized companies; and a focus on IT, bio, and cultural content business.