Democratic Party elects Cho Jeong-sik as candidate for next parliamentary speaker

SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Wednesday elected Rep. Cho Jeong-sik, a six-term lawmaker, as its candidate for the next parliamentary speaker. The 63-year-old beat Kim Tae-nyeon and Park Jie-won, both five-term lawmakers, in a vote cast by party lawmakers and members. If elected at a parliamentary plenary session, Rep. Cho will replace Woo Won-shik and serve a two-year term that will cover the second half of the 22nd National Assembly. He is expected to ultimately become the speaker, as it is customary for the largest party in terms of parliamentary seats to take the speaker position, with two vice speaker seats divided between the ruling and main opposition parties. Four-term lawmaker Rep. Nam In-soon was elected as the DP's candidate for deputy assembly speaker. Rep. Cho is widely considered to have close ties with President Lee Jae Myung, having served as the president's special political adviser before resigning to run for assembly speaker and previously serving as the secretary general of the DP when Lee was party leader. In South Korea, elections for parliamentary speaker are subject to approval from a majority of lawmakers. In the 286-member assembly, the ruling DP holds 152 seats, while the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) holds 106. It marks the first time party members were included in the DP's vote to select its parliamentary speaker candidate following recent revisions to the related party regulations. An online vote by party members held from Sunday to Monday accounted for 20 percent of the total, while a separate vote by lawmakers was conducted Tuesday, accounting for the remaining 80 percent. Earlier in the day, the PPP selected four-term lawmaker Rep. Park Duk-hyum as its candidate for the next deputy assembly speaker in a general meeting of its lawmakers.