Rep. Shin Kyung-min, a former TV anchor renowned for his biting comments and staunch liberalism, became a political star Saturday by taking the No. 2 post in the main opposition Democratic Party just two years after entering politics.

The first-term lawmaker earned the most votes in the party election to join the Supreme Council, the highest decision-making body.

In 2008, the veteran TV journalist started to host MBC’s main news program and enjoyed wide popularity for his scathing closing comments against the establishment. 

But he was virtually dismissed the following year. The public broadcasting station was allegedly pressured by the conservative government due to his remarks about sensitive issues from the sinking of the Cheonan warship to the prosecution of online economic pundit Minerva.

He then served among the editorial staff until Sept. 2011 before beginning his political career.

Shin was named the opposition party’s spokesman early last year and became a member of the National Assembly after defeating three-term lawmaker Kwon Young-se, a close aide to President Park Geun-hye.

Shin took a similar career path to former presidential candidate Chung Dong-young as they both attended Seoul National University and entered MBC as TV reporters the same year. But Shin is said to have pursued a different political agenda than Chung, a loyalist of former President Roh Moo-hyun.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)