The ruling Saenuri Party on Friday nominated Rep. Kang Chang-hee, a six-term lawmaker close to former party chief and leading presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye, to become speaker of the National Assembly.

Rep. Kang beat Rep. Chung Ui-hwa, a five-term representative who served as acting speaker in the previous parliament, by 88-48 in a vote of Saenuri legislators.

The party also picked Lee Byung-suk, a four-term lawmaker, as its candidate for vice speaker.

“My task is to help the parliament regain the public’s confidence,” he said after the vote held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. “I will do my best to make this happen together with lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties.” 

A 66-year-old representative from Daejeon, Kang is known as one of the seven in-party advisors to Rep. Park. He is the second-longest serving legislator after Rep. Chung Moon-joon, a fellow Saenuri member who has declared a bid for the presidency.

Liberal opposition parties viewed him as unfit for the job, taking issue with his link to a past military regime. Kang was a member of Hanahoe, a group of military officers led by ex-President Chun Doo-hwan that staged a coup on Dec. 12, 1979.

To be confirmed as parliamentary chief, he must win a majority vote among all 300 members of the legislature. The Saenuri Party controls 150 of the seats.

The endorsement process looks likely to be delayed, as the two main political parties are yet to complete the formation of standing committees.

Rep. Park Jie-won, interim leader of the largest opposition Democratic United Party, played down the possibility of a plenary session on June 5, citing a wide gap between two parties over how to share control of the 18 parliamentary committees.

“From the way things look now, I think a voting session on June 5 is unlikely to happen,” he said on a radio progam.

The position of National Assembly speaker, mostly of symbolic significance, goes to the largest party in parliament.

Once appointed, Kang is obliged by law to give up his party membership and remain independent for the entire 2-year term.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)