The ruling Saenuri Party’s chairman Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, a prominent loyalist of President Park Geun-hye, resigned Friday, leaving a newly elected floor leader with the task of navigating the embattled party through escalating factional strife following the impeachment of Park.

Earlier in the day, Rep. Chug Woo-taik, a fourth-term lawmaker supported by the pro-Park faction, was elected as Saenuri’s new whip. Chung beat his contender Rep. Na Kyung-won, who represents Park dissenters, by 62 to 55 votes.

“We should never put new wine into an old bottle,” said Lee during a press conference at the National Assembly. “Now that we have elected a new floor leader, we decided to transform ourselves into the group that the people want.” 
Scheduled to leave his post Thursday, Lee moved up his departure after the election result was announced. Chung will steer the party as an interim leader until the party elects new leadership next January.

Besides Lee, other key Park loyalists also left their leadership positions. Among them were Reps. Cho Won-Jin and Lee Jang-woo, outspoken Park loyalists who sit in the party’s decision-making Supreme Council.

In an acceptance speech, the new floor leader called for “unity” among the party members, who have endured escalating infighting between the Park loyalists and their dissenters over control of the conservative party.

“(My victory) reminds me of a famous quote, ‘United we live, divided we die,’” Chung told the lawmakers. “If we stay together, the people will support us. Then we can achieve the goal of winning the next presidential election.”

But the 63-year-old politician’s passionate plea did not help to ease the animosity among non-Park lawmakers and prevent their defection from the party. Some leading figures of the non-Park group, such as former Saenuri Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung, hinted that they would leave and form a new party.

“It didn’t bother me, I actually feel relieved,” said Kim, when asked by the reporters about how he felt about the election result and whether he would quit the party. Kim said that he voted for lawmaker Na and that the gap was larger than he expected.

While describing the election result as a “disappointment,” Rep. Yoo Seong-min, a former floor leader and one of Kim’s key allies, refused to say whether he would leave the party, only saying that he would “give much more thought” to the move.

Since the influence-peddling scandal tied to the president’s confidante Choi Soon-sil rocked the nation last month, those from Saenuri’s rival faction have been blaming one another for worsening their biggest-ever political crisis.

The animosity reached its peak when dozens of non-Park lawmakers joined the opposition parties in impeaching the president last week. Up to 62 dissenting members were said to approve the motion in a secret ballot.

Meanwhile, opposition parties pledged to halt legislative discussion with the Saenuri leadership for the time being, denouncing the Saenuri for choosing a Park loyalist as a floor leader despite the public anger against Park and her supporters. 

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