Current head Park will resign to work on presidential bid
Rep. Park Geun-hye, incumbent chairwoman of the Grand National Party (GNP), is set to step down from her post on June 16 to compete for her party’s bid for presidential candidate. Rep. Kim Young-sun will become acting leader of the GNP for 24 days, until the party chooses its new chairperson. Ms. Kim was chosen for the interim spot after Rep. Won Hee-ryong, one of the prime candidates for acting leader, expressed his intention to resign from the party due to his future political plans, which may include the presidential bid, as well.Ms. Kim promised to observe the party’s constitution and rules, but also said, "I will try to conduct the duties of acting leader in a novel and progressive way during this short term." Ms. Kim, 46, the second chairwoman of GNP after Ms. Park, will be the youngest-ever chairperson of a party in the nation’s constitutional history. Ms. Kim, a three-term lawmaker who joined the world of politics in the 15th general elections in 1996, was elevated to the number three party position at the GNP national convention held July 2004.
