Ex-Finance Minister Kim officially declares presidential bid as independent

Former Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon officially announced Wednesday he will run in the presidential election slated for March as an independent.

"We can create a nation where opportunities flow like a river if we can collect our strength with the people," Kim said in a pre-recorded speech announcing his presidential candidacy uploaded on YouTube.

Calling for a change of today's political and power establishments, the former career bureaucrat stressed the need to completely overhaul the nation into a "republic of opportunities" from what he described as the current "republic of the privileged."

Describing his campaign as a "political startup," Kim said he envisions amending the Constitution to scale down the power and authority of the presidency, limit consecutive terms of legislators and introduce a recall election system to strengthen people's power over elected officials.

Having served as a life-long bureaucrat, mostly in economy and budget-related areas, Kim was President Moon Jae-in's first finance minister from June 2017 to December 2018. He resigned after reportedly clashing with senior presidential aides over the administration's income-led growth policy.

Before joining Moon's Cabinet, Kim served as president of Ajou University. In contrast to his elite adult career, Kim is particularly well-known as a self-made man who attended a vocational high school and an evening college while working to support his family at an early age. (Yonhap)