Chairman Election 'Winning Votes' Effort by Park Byeong-seok... Dinner with Citizens Party Elected Members

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Park Byeong-seok, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who is being mentioned as a candidate for the next Speaker of the National Assembly, has begun actively courting votes. On the 29th, Park reportedly held a dinner with elected members of the Democratic Citizens' Party and conveyed his intention to run for Speaker. In his statement for the 21st general election, he expressed his intention to run actively, saying, "I will take the lead in reforming the National Assembly as Speaker."

[Image source=Yonhap News] Park Byeong-seok lawmaker asking a question

On the afternoon of the same day, Park held a dinner with elected members of the Citizens' Party at a restaurant in Mapo-gu, Seoul. The dinner was held in a warm atmosphere, where first-term elected members asked questions about legislative activities and Park responded.

At the gathering, Park also conveyed his intention to run for the next Speaker of the National Assembly. An elected member of the Citizens' Party who attended the dinner told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "He is such a gentle person, and he conveyed his intention to run in a mild manner." It is also known that before the dinner, he had put effort into courting the 'first-term vote' by sending handwritten letters congratulating and advising the elected members of the Citizens' Party by mail.

With the Democratic Party, the largest party in the 21st National Assembly, taking the Speaker position, the candidates include Park, a six-term lawmaker with the most seniority in the party, and Kim Jin-pyo, a five-term senior lawmaker. Park's strengths include being a lawmaker from the Chungcheong region amid the strengthened regional divide between Yeongnam and Honam, and having a background as a journalist with weak factional colors, which has helped him build close friendships across both ruling and opposition parties. This is his third attempt at the Speaker position, having lost to Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and lawmaker Moon Hee-sang in the 20th National Assembly.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.