The New Floor Leader to Succeed Kwon Seong-dong... Over Ten Candidates in the Running

Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, is seen tightly closing his mouth during a press conference at the National Assembly on the 8th, where he announced his resignation from the floor leader position. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] With Kwon Seong-dong, the floor leader of the People Power Party, resigning after five months, attention is focused on the process of selecting a new floor leader that will unfold after Chuseok. More than ten candidates, mainly from the 3rd to 5th-term lawmakers with the capability to lead a minority government, are being mentioned. While some voices call for an 'acclamation,' the People Power Party plans to finalize the appointment of the emergency committee immediately after the holiday and proceed with the formal floor leader election process.

On the 8th, Floor Leader Kwon held a press conference at the National Assembly and stated, "I hereby announce my intention to resign as the ruling party floor leader today," adding, "I hope the party will swiftly carry out the procedures to elect a new floor leader." Accordingly, the pool of floor leader candidates, which had only been discussed behind the scenes, is becoming visible.

As potential next floor leaders, 5-term lawmaker Jeong Woo-taek; 4-term lawmakers Kim Hak-yong, Yoon Sang-hyun, and Hong Moon-pyo; and 3-term lawmakers Kim Sang-hoon, Kim Tae-ho, Park Dae-chul, Yoon Jae-ok, Yoon Young-seok, Lee Jong-bae, and Cho Hae-jin are being mentioned, either by themselves or others. With 11 candidates, more than one-third of the lawmakers with three or more terms are in the candidate pool. In particular, among the 3-term lawmakers, Yoon Jae-ok is considered one of the leading candidates as he served as the head of the party’s presidential campaign situation room in the last presidential election, is classified as 'pro-Yoon,' and has served three terms representing the Daegu region, a core support base of the People Power Party. Also, Park Dae-chul, who was elected chairman of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee and served as the head of the campaign support headquarters in the presidential campaign, also classified as 'pro-Yoon,' and Cho Hae-jin, who competed with Floor Leader Kwon in the last election, are also strong candidates.

Some voices suggest that former emergency committee chairman Joo Ho-young should be acclaimed as the new floor leader instead of holding a primary, but since senior lawmakers who want to participate in the floor leader election are strongly motivated, a primary seems inevitable.

The People Power Party is accelerating work on the appointment of the emergency committee and the announcement schedule of the election management committee, aiming to elect a new floor leader by the 19th. Earlier, Emergency Committee Chairman Jeong Jin-seok, who emphasized a 'unified emergency committee,' plans to finalize the appointment of emergency committee members immediately after the holiday. However, given that the results of the provisional injunction hearing scheduled for the 14th could once again shake the new emergency committee, uncertainties surrounding the People Power Party are expected to remain high even after the emergency committee’s launch.