Four-term lawmaker Woo Sang-ho has been chosen as the main opposition Democratic Party(DP)’s new interim leader.  

According to DP spokesperson Shin Hyun-young on Tuesday, the party affirmed Woo as the head of the emergency leadership committee at a general meeting held earlier in the day.

Shin said there were opinions that the new interim leadership be steered by an insider, and preferably an incumbent lawmaker, noting that Woo’s previous declaration that he would not run for parliament in the next general elections was also expected to position him as a neutral leader. 

Ranking DP lawmakers who have served four or more terms recommended Woo to the post and almost all other lawmakers agreed, the spokesperson added. 

The party's former interim leadership, including co-chairs Yun Ho-jung and Park Ji-hyun, resigned en masse last Thursday following the party's crushing defeat in the local elections the previous day.