President Park Geun-hye has appointed a former ruling party lawmaker as her new secretary for political affairs, an official said Tuesday.

Joo Kwang-deok, 53, a former prosecutor and a member of the previous National Assembly, began his new job on Monday, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Joo succeeded Kim Seon-dong, who left the post in a reshuffle of the top office late last month.

His immediate boss is senior political affairs secretary Park Joon-woo, a former career diplomat who served as South Korea's ambassador to the European Union and Singapore. (Yonhap News)