Yoon's close confidant elected as new floor leader of soon-to-be ruling PPP
Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, the new floor leader of the People Power Party / Yonhap
Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, a close confidant and a friend of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, was elected as the new floor leader of the soon-to-be ruling People Power Party (PPP), Friday.
Kweon beat Rep. Cho Hae-jin to become the floor leader after garnering 81 of 102 votes casted during a general meeting of PPP lawmakers at the National Assembly.
The four-term lawmaker is considered one of Yoon's closest confidants known as "Yoonhaekgwan" ― an abbreviation of "Yoon Suk-yeol's core associates" in Korean ― that also include Reps. Chang Je-won and Yoon Han-hong of the same party.
Kweon, 61, has also been friends with Yoon since childhood when the two met during visits to their respective families in the eastern coastal city of Gangneung.
He is known to have steered Yoon's campaign from the start, serving as Yoon's chief of staff and the party's secretary-general before resigning early this year amid an internal feud.
Kweon will be tasked to lead his party against the Democratic Party in dealing with issues such as National Assembly approval for Yoon's Cabinet member nominations, an extra budget bill for COVID-19 pandemic-hit small merchants, and other legislation subjects related to Yoon's incoming government.
The PPP only has 110 of the total 300 Assembly seats, while the DP has 172. (Yonhap)