Cho Jung-sik, a six-term lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, has been selected as the candidate for Speaker of the National Assembly in the second half of the 22nd National Assembly.
The Democratic Party held a general meeting of its lawmakers at the National Assembly on Thursday to select candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker, confirming Cho as the Speaker candidate after he secured a majority of votes from registered members. Fellow contenders Park Jie-won and Kim Tae-nyeon were defeated.
"The Republic of Korea currently stands at the heart of a massive era of transition," Cho said immediately after his selection. "We will build a National Assembly that leads change and designs the future, not one that lags behind."
Since the Speaker of the National Assembly is customarily held by the largest party in parliament, Cho is expected to be formally elected through a plenary session vote.
Meanwhile, four-term lawmaker Nam In-soon was selected as the Deputy Speaker candidate from the Democratic Party, while four-term lawmaker Park Deok-hum was chosen as the Deputy Speaker candidate from the People Power Party.
