Rep. Lee Hye-hoon, a three-term lawmaker and once an ally of former President Park Geun-hye, was elected as the leader of the minor conservative opposition Bareun Party on Monday.

“I will now think, speak and act as the chief of the Bareun Party. I will become a ‘blast furnace’ -- a leader who can listen to diverse opinions and melt away any kind of conflict,” the 53-year-old lawmaker said. 

Lee also vowed to do her best to hold the party together and to drive the party to become the main conservative party.

“Will you all support the newly starting chief without anyone defecting?” she asked.

The minor party, which split off from the Saenuri Party before it rebranded itself as the Liberty Korea Party, currently has 20 parliamentary seats, the very minimum required of a party to maintain a negotiation body status at the National Assembly.

In a four-way race, Lee took 36.9 percent of the votes, beating runner-up Rep. Ha Tae-keung by 3.8 percentage points. The result combined 70 percent of the votes of party delegates and 30 percent of a public opinion poll. The three other contenders, Reps. Ha, Kim Young-woo and Jeong Woon-chun, automatically became members of the party’s supreme council.

The newly elected chief had previously garnered victories in four of a total of five regional primaries, in regions including the metropolitan areas and conservative stronghold Gyeongsang provinces.

With Lee’s win, the chief of three political parties -- the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Justice Party and Bareun Party -- are now women.

The party’s top post had been vacant since March after chief Choung Byoung-gug and the party leadership resigned following the Constitutional Court’s ruling on the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye. Rep. Joo Ho-young had taken the role of acting chief and floor leader.

By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)