Three-term lawmaker and main opposition People Power Party Rep. Song Eon-seog delivers his acceptance speech after being elected as his party’s floor leader on Monday. (Joint Press Corps)
Three-term lawmaker and main opposition People Power Party Rep. Song Eon-seog delivers his acceptance speech after being elected as his party’s floor leader on Monday. (Joint Press Corps)

Amid growing calls for reform, PPP picks former vice minister of finance as floor leader

Three-term lawmaker Rep. Song Eon-seog was elected as the floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party on Monday, amid calls within the conservative bloc for reform following its election defeat earlier this month.

Song, 62, is a bureaucrat-turned-politician who served as the vice minister of economy and finance from 2015 to 2017. He entered politics in 2018 and is currently head of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee.

Song received overwhelming support, earning 60 votes from 106 People Power Party lawmakers who participated in the vote for the new floor leader. The vote was held during the party’s general meeting of lawmakers in the afternoon.

Song was in a three-way race with People Power Party Reps. Kim Sung-won and Lee Hun-seung, who each earned 30 and 16 votes, respectively.

In his acceptance speech, Song highlighted the new “limits” the party faces as an opposition party that failed to become the majority in the National Assembly.

“We are an opposition party that has lost its (administration) and a minority within the National Assembly that is absolutely outnumbered,” he said.

The liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea currently holds 167 seats in the 300-member Assembly. The conservative People Power Party holds 107.

He highlighted the hurdles expected to come in the upcoming negotiations with the Democratic Party, while pointing to the need for the conservative party’s reform.

“(The negotiations with the Democratic Party) are going to become more difficult as we are now the main opposition. We need change and reform and it would be wrong to make moves that would cause our party to regress into the past.”

People Power Party interim leader Rep. Kim Yong-tae told reporters ahead of the intra-party vote that he plans to step down if the new leadership decides to endorse his reform plan and “show willingness” to follow through with it. A faction supporting former President Yoon Suk Yeol within the party has been pressuring him to step down and take responsibility for the latest election loss.


mkjung@heraldcorp.com