Election of National Assembly Speaker Today: Cho Jeongsik for Speaker, Nam Insoon and Park Deokheum for Deputy Speaker Candidates

Secret Ballot to Be Held at Afternoon Plenary Session
Candidate Elected With Majority of Incumbent Lawmakers' Votes

On the afternoon of June 5, the National Assembly will convene a plenary session to elect the leadership for the second half of the 22nd National Assembly.

National Assembly Building, Yeouido, Seoul. The Asia Business Daily Database

The election will be held by secret ballot, and the candidate who receives a majority of votes from all incumbent lawmakers will be elected. The term for the newly elected Speaker and Deputy Speakers is two years. According to parliamentary custom, the largest party in the Assembly nominates the Speaker, while the first and second largest parties each recommend one Deputy Speaker.

For the Speaker position, Cho Jeong-sik, a six-term lawmaker from the Democratic Party, has been nominated. For Deputy Speaker, Nam Insoon, a four-term lawmaker from the Democratic Party, and Park Deokheum, a four-term lawmaker from the People Power Party, are running. Assemblyman Cho is one of the most senior lawmakers within the Democratic Party and is a prominent pro-Lee Jae-myung figure, having previously served as Special Political Advisor to President Lee Jae-myung. He is recognized as a senior lawmaker with both policy expertise and extensive legislative experience.

Assemblywoman Nam, who is a former women's rights activist, worked with the Korean Women's Associations United and led institutional reforms to improve women's rights, such as the abolition of the patriarchal family registry system and the enactment of the Special Act on Sexual Violence. She solidified her political standing by being consecutively elected in Songpa-byeong, Seoul—a traditionally difficult district for the Democratic Party—in the 20th, 21st, and 22nd general elections. Assemblyman Park, a former CEO of a construction company, is a senior lawmaker who has succeeded in being elected four consecutive times in Boeun, Okcheon, Yeongdong, and Goesan in North Chungcheong Province. He is related by marriage to Jeong Jinseok, the former Presidential Chief of Staff from the People Power Party.

Once the election of the leadership is concluded, the ruling and opposition parties will begin negotiations over the allocation of standing committee chairmanships. The Democratic Party has not ruled out the possibility of taking all the committee chair positions if negotiations are prolonged or break down. The People Power Party is expected to respond by invoking the argument of “parliamentary monopoly.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.