The ruling Saenuri Party elected Chung Jin-suk, a journalist-turned-politican, as its floor leader on Tuesday.

The new floor leader will be responsible for spearheading the party’s legislative drive in the upcoming National Assembly against the opposition parties that have combined majority seats.

Lawmaker-elect Chung Jin-suk beat Rep. Na Kyung-won and Rep. Yoo Ki-joon, 69 to 43 and 9, respectively, in the vote of 119 attending party members. His running mate Rep. Kim Kwang-lim will become the chief policymaker.

Chung, who served as presidential adviser during the previous Lee Myung-bak administration, vowed to “coordinate with” President Park Geun-hye and the opposition parties, highlighting his ”knack for good communication.”

“The ruling party’s main task is to coordinate with Cheong Wa Dae and negotiate a deal with opposition parties,” said Chung. “To make that happen, we have to build trust with the president first,” he said.

Chung was a seasoned journalist at Hankook Ilbo for which he worked as a Washington correspondent and an editor until he joined politics and won a parliamentary seat in 2000.

The election comes weeks after the party suffered a crushing defeat in the April 13 general election, which stripped the party of its majority status and even as the No. 1 parliamentary bloc.

The party has continued to roil in factional feuds between those loyal to the president and non-Parks.

The rival Minjoo Party will select its floor leader on Wednesday. The People’s Party has named a four-term lawmaker Rep. Park Jie-won as its floor leader.

The floor leaders will start their work by negotiating over how to split the number of seats for parliamentary committees and their chairpersons. They will also schedule legislative session to pass pending bills such as labor-reform and business-related bill.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)