New Assembly speaker elected; 14 new lawmakers make Assembly debut

Rep. Cho Jeong-sik cast his vote during an election to elect a new Speaker for the 22nd National Assembly on Friday. (Yonhap)

The National Assembly on Friday elected six-term liberal lawmaker Rep. Cho Jeong-sik as its new speaker of the country's unicameral legislature.

Cho, who was selected in the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's internal contest on May 13, won 267 votes out of 276 at the plenary session held Friday. Cho will hold the post for the 22nd National Assembly until May 2028.

Cho, 62, replaces five-term Rep. Woo Won-shik, whose two-year term as the speaker ended on May 29.

In his acceptance speech, Cho pledged to resume the push for constitutional amendment, a move blocked by conservative parties during Woo's term. Cho said next year would be the optimal time for the first amendment in four decades, as no national election is expected then.

Next year "is the time for the National Assembly to do homework that is long overdue," Cho said.

Rep. Cho Jeong-sik hits a gavel as he presides over a plenary session of the National Assembly on Friday. (National Assembly Secretariat)

Assuming the Speaker's chair following his remarks, his first task was to convene an election for deputy speakers.

Later on Friday, Reps. Nam In-soon of the Democratic Party and Park Duk-hyum of the main opposition People Power Party also gained the Assembly's approval for their deputy speaker seat. Nam won 251 votes out of 265, and Park secured 214 out of 246. Both are four-term lawmakers.

Cheong Wa Dae's chief spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a statement Friday that the presidential office will communicate and cooperate closely with the National Assembly to improve people's living standards, seek economic growth and achieve national unity, in a message to congratulate new parliamentary speakers.

Meanwhile, Friday's plenary session was the first since the parliamentary by-election in 14 electoral districts held Wednesday.

Attending Friday's session were Democratic Party Reps. Jeon Eun-su, Kim Eui-kyeom, Kim Nam-joon, Kim Nam-kuk, Kim Sung-bum, Lee Kwang-jae, Lim Mun-yeong, Park Ji-won and Song Young-gil. Also at the session were People Power Party's Kim Tae-kyu, Lee Jin-sook, Yoon Yong-geun and Yu Eui-dong, as well as independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon.