South Korea's Party for Democracy and Peace has elected a political heavyweight to head the party.
In his victory speech on Sunday,... Chung Dong-young promised to stand with the most vulnerable in Korean society....as he also faces a number of challenges going forward.
Kim Min-ji reports.
The minor opposition Party for Democracy and Peace has elected four-term lawmaker Chung Dong-young as its new chair.
At a national convention on Sunday,... Chung emerged victorious from a pool of six candidates.
Chung has a wealth of political experience to draw upon -- which includes serving as unification minister between 2004 and 2005 under the Roh Moo-hyun administration,... and also his run for president in 2007.
"This opportunity gives me the chance to reinvigorate our party that's standing at the crossroads of survival,... and to stand on the side of the disempowered and vulnerable. This is on the condition that the leadership comes together to stand on the people's side and works to revive our party."
First and foremost, Chung vowed to hit the streets to reach out to the public and address their concerns.
He said his priority will be reforming the country's electoral system -- in order to bring more parties into the National Assembly and better reflect the voices of a wider spectrum of society -- rather than have the two biggest parties more or less run the parliament, like now.
But the new chair also faces a number of daunting challenges.
They include reversing the liberal party's lagging approval rating,... which has recently hovered between a mere one to three percent.
He's also tasked with boosting his party's presence in the National Assembly as it only holds 14 of the 299 seats -- short of the 20 required to be a negotiating bloc and play a decisive role in legislative affairs.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.
