Opposition-affiliated deputy assembly speaker to transfer to ruling party

Deputy National Assembly Speaker Kim Young-joo, right, holds a meeting with Han Dong-hoon, the leader of the ruling People Power Party in Seoul on March 1, 2024. Joint Press Corps-Yonhap

A deputy assembly speaker affiliated with the main opposition party announced Sunday she will join the ruling People Power Party (PPP), two weeks after expressing her intention to defect from her party over a rift surrounding nominations for the April parliamentary elections.

Kim Young-joo, a four-term lawmaker, declared her intention to leave the Democratic Party last month shortly after the opposition party placed her in the lower 20 percent category in the party evaluation for election nominations.

"Accepting (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon's proposal, I have decided to join the PPP," Kim wrote on her Facebook page. She is expected to transfer to the ruling party Monday. (Yonhap)