Who is Woo Won-sik, the new speaker of the South Korean National Assembly? The process leading up to the official decision was turbulent

The term of the 22nd National Assembly, which will be responsible for making laws for the next four years in South Korea, began on the 30th of last month. At a plenary session of the National Assembly held on the 5th of this month, Rep. Woo Won-sik of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea announced that he would be the first to hold the National Assembly.
He was elected as the speaker of the National Assembly for the first half of the term (2024-2026). The speaker is traditionally chosen by the largest party, and the Democratic Party of Korea selected Woo as its speaker candidate on the 16th of last month. A vote was held at the National Assembly plenary session on the 5th.
On April 10, South Korea held a general election to elect members of the National Assembly (300 seats) every four years.
The election was positioned as a mid-term evaluation of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, and was contested in single-seat districts (254 seats) and proportional representation (46 seats). Before the election, the opposition Democratic Party of Korea had won 156 seats (including its affiliated party
With the opposition parties holding a majority of seats in the Diet, a "twisted" situation had arisen, with the ruling People's Power Party holding 114 seats (including the Democratic Party), and the opposition party holding 121 seats (including the Democratic Party), so the focus of this general election was whether this situation would be resolved.
As a result of the vote count, the Democratic Party of Korea won 175 seats, including its proportional representation parties. Meanwhile, the ruling People Power Party and its affiliated parties, which support the Yoon administration, suffered a major defeat, winning only 108 seats. The opposition parties were:
Although they fell short of the 200 seats needed to pass constitutional amendments or motions calling for the impeachment of the president, this means they will continue to hold the reins of political power.
Following the election results, Han Dong-hoon, then head of the People Power Party and chairman of the emergency response committee, said, "The will of the people is always right.
On behalf of our party, I apologize to the people for not being worthy of the honour," he said, and resigned as chairman the day after the general election.
"I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the support and encouragement for the party," he said, adding, "This is not a victory for the party, but a great victory for our people."
"It seems that the president will have to re-establish the way he will run the country in the future," Yonhap News reported.
The Democratic Party of Korea has selected Woo Won-sik as the candidate for the first half of the 22nd National Assembly Speaker. It is customary for the National Assembly Speaker to come from the leading party. Most people believe that Woo Won-sik, who was the Minister of Justice in the previous Moon Jae-in administration,
Choo Mi-ae, who served as the prosecutor general under the Moon administration, was considered the favorite to succeed Woo, but it was Woo who was elected. Yonhap News Agency reported this upset as a "major reversal." Choo, who lost, was replaced by Yoon Dae-young, who served as the prosecutor general under the Moon administration.
He was known as the president's "archenemy." When he announced his candidacy for the 2022 presidential election, he said of Yoon, who was the candidate of the opposition People Power Party at the time, "No one knows (Yoon) better than I do."
I am a hawk catching pheasants," he said, showing his desire to "crush Yoon." However, Choo was defeated in the party's subsequent primary elections.
This time, Choo ran for speaker of the new National Assembly, but was defeated by Woo, as mentioned above.
There was a widespread view that the result was due to the lawmakers' evaluation of Choo, who has a strong political affiliation. There were also reports that, at the request of Chairman Lee, the candidates were essentially narrowed down to Choo, who is pro-Ming and close to Chairman Lee.
It was also reported that the result was influenced by opposition to the one-sided decision-making by Lee. On the other hand, President Yoon was hesitant that his former "nemesis" Choo was not elected as Speaker of the National Assembly.
The worst-case scenario of a conflict with the National Assembly over the administration has been avoided. Woo was officially elected as the speaker of the 22nd National Assembly for the first half of the term in a vote of confidence held at the National Assembly plenary session on the 5th. Woo
He is 66 years old and from Seoul, and has been elected five times. He served as the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea in the Moon administration. His term runs until May 2026. Meanwhile, the ruling party, People Power Party, has announced that it will withdraw from the plenary session without the agreement of the ruling and opposition parties.
As mentioned above, the Korean National Assembly is in a "twisted" state in which the opposition parties hold a majority of the seats in the National Assembly.
However, the Speaker of the National Assembly has the power to directly bring the bill to the plenary session if the ruling and opposition parties cannot reach a consensus on the bill in the subcommittee and deliberations stall.
Regarding the "neutrality" required of the speaker, Woo said, "The concept of neutrality is only valuable if it makes the lives of the people easier and increases their rights. It is a setback to go against the will of the people in running the National Assembly.
"If there are any delays, we will deal with them in accordance with the National Assembly Act," the statement said. South Korea's public broadcaster KBS reported that "the Democratic Party of Korea appears to be gaining momentum in the National Assembly's deliberations."
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