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Rebuilding Korea Party recommends ex-leader Cho Kuk as interim head

Published: 09 Sep. 2025, 20:41

Cho Kuk, former head of the Rebuilding Korea Party, walks out of the Seoul Southern Detention Center in western Seoul on Aug. 15. [NEWS1]

The minor Rebuilding Korea Party on Tuesday decided to recommend former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk as its new interim leader to steer the embattled party out of turmoil sparked by a sexual misconduct scandal.

The move came after the party's top leadership stepped down en masse on Sunday, following spokesperson Kang Mi-jeong's resignation in protest of what she called the party's lukewarm response to a series of sexual harassment and workplace bullying cases that had taken place within the party since last year.

"Most of the lawmakers agreed to recommend Cho as the new interim leader to the party affairs committee," floor leader Seo Wang-jin said. "There were differing views, but the majority believed Cho should take on the responsibility and guide the party as the party's key leader."

Cho, who founded and previously led the minor party, is expected to be formally endorsed as interim leader during a party meeting slated for Thursday.

He currently heads the party's policy think tank after returning to politics last month following a special presidential pardon. He had been serving a two-year prison term for academic fraud involving his children and unlawful interference with a government inspection.

Cho, however, has faced criticism for seemingly distancing himself from the scandal despite being seen as the party's central figure who is widely expected to reclaim the party chairmanship during a national convention in November.

Yonhap