Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the People Power Party, considered a pro-Yoon figure, was elected as the conservative ruling party's floor leader on Thursday.
Rep. Kweon, a five-term lawmaker, won the intra-party election by a landslide, earning 72 votes from 106 ruling party lawmakers that participated in the vote. The People Power Party has a total of 108 lawmakers.
Rep. Kweon's rival, four-term lawmaker Rep. Kim Tae-ho received 34 votes.
The two-way race between People Power Party Reps. Kweon and Kim followed Rep. Choo Kyung-ho's surprise announcement to resign as the People Power Party floor leader, closely after the first motion to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol was scrapped on Saturday.
The motion failed to pass after falling short of the quorum of 200 votes in the 300-member National Assembly. An overwhelming majority of the 108 ruling party lawmakers boycotted the vote.
Ahead of the vote, Rep. Kweon declared he was part of the "pro-Yoon" faction. He also reminded his fellow party members that a divide within the conservative bloc in the months leading up to and following former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment in early 2017 has led to the conservative bloc's failure in the following presidential, general and local elections.
Rep. Kim, a four-term lawmaker, expressed regret that another president from the conservative party is now "facing impeachment" and apologized to the public.
"It is time that (the party) lets go of the president's hand. We must now make a decision," he said.
