Following a multi-week tug-of-war between the rival parties,... the National Assembly has finally selected a new assembly speaker and two deputies.
Park Ji-won starts us off with the updates from the domestic political realm.
Lawmakers elected Chung Sye-kyun as their new assembly speaker at the first plenary session of the 20th National Assembly on Thursday afternoon.
The six-term lawmaker from the main opposition Minjoo Party will lead the parliament for the next two years.
The 65-year-old is a former industry and energy minister... and is considered a potential presidential candidate.
Chung vowed to do his utmost to regain the public trust.


"As assembly speaker, I will try to regain the public trust through efficient management of political and social conflicts. I will make a parliament that helps the public, not one that burdens them. But I cannot do it alone. I urge my fellow lawmakers to gather their knowledge and wisdom to make a productive parliament."

The deputy speaker posts went to Shim Jae-cheol,... a five-term Saenuri Party lawmaker and former journalist,... and Park Joo-sun, a four-term People's Party lawmaker and former prosecutor.
Korea's main political parties had been locked in battle over the speaker post up until Wednesday,... as the speaker enjoys several important rights,... including the right to put bills directly up for a vote at plenary sessions,... without having to go through the deliberation process under certain conditions.
The conflict ended when the ruling Saenuri Party yielded the post to the Minjoo Party out of respect to the result of April's general elections,... when it was stripped of its parliamentary majority.
Instead, the ruling party will now chair the influential judiciary committee.
In all, the Saenuri Party and the Minjoo Party will each chair eight of the 18 committees and the People's Party will chair two.
The three parties are scheduled to vote on the candidates Monday.
With the speaker posts filled, the opening ce