ARIRANG NEWS 20:00 Ruling Saenuri Party elects new floor leader Monday

ARIRANG NEWS 20:00 In the headlines... Korea′s ruling party elects a new floor leader,... a member of a non-President Park Geun-hye faction,... amid record low approval ratings for the president. Still sluggish domestic consumption in Korea helps to put the 2014 current account surplus at a record-high. The Islamic State militant group claims to have murdered more hostages. This... after the group beheaded its second Japanese hostage. Title: Ruling Saenuri Party elects new floor leader Monday We begin at the National Assembly... where Korea′s ruling Saenuri Party has elected a new floor leader. Three-term lawmaker Yoo Seong-min is now in charge of coordinating major policies and reform plans with the presidential office and the government. Our National Assembly correspondent Park Ji-won has this story. Three-term lawmaker Yoo Seong-min has been elected the ruling Saenuri Party′s new floor leader with 84 votes. 149 of the party′s 158 lawmakers cast their ballots on Monday at the National Assembly. In what had been a tight race, the 57-year old lawmaker defeated four-term lawmaker and former maritime minister Lee Ju-young. Yoo is more critical of the current administration than his opponent Lee, who was considered a pro-Park Geun-hye candidate. Yoo′s election comes as the president′s approval rating have slipped to one of its lowest, hovering just above some 30 percent. Upon winning the election, Yoo emphasized the importance of direct communication with the presidential office and the government. "I vow to have sincere communication with the presidential office and the government. We will closely cooperate, while pondering together which policies will truly reflect and serve the will of the people." Four-term lawmaker Won Yoo-chul will assist Yoo as the party′s chief policymaker. The floor leader is in charge of spearheading ruling party legislation and coordinating party policy. But Yoo is known to disagree with major policies that the Park Geun-hye administration has pursued. For example, he has been highly critical of the Park administration′s policy of expanding welfare without raising taxes. While he agrees with the idea of expanding social welfare services, he believes corresponding tax increases are necessary. To raise tax revenue, he says it is necessary to re-examine corporate tax rates,... which the administration has kept in tact for the past two years. Yoo and Saenuri Party leader Kim Moo-sung both stand outside the mainstream of the ruling party,...meaning the administration could lose momentum on its reform drive in the public, labor, finance and education sectors, which it vowed to push through this year. PARK Ji-won, Arirang News. Title: Chief steward takes stand at final hearing of ′nut rage′ trial At the final hearing of the so-called "nut rage" trial for Cho Hyun-ah, the former vice president of Korean Air,...Park Chang-jin , ...the chief purser who Cho allegedly ordered