The ruling Saenuri Party on Monday appointed its whip Chung Jin-suk as an interim leader, giving him the task of steering the party until new leadership is elected.

Chung, who now doubles as chairman of the emergency committee and floor leader, will lead the party through the upcoming National Assembly regular session until a national convention selects new leadership. The party has yet to schedule the convention, but it is widely expected to take place between late July and early August.

“The emergency committee will deal with the day-to-day party internal affairs such as preparing for the upcoming national convention. It is going to replace the role played by the Supreme Committee,” the party’s floor spokesperson Min Kyung-wook told reporters.

The Supreme Committee is the party’s highest decision-making body and has been vacant since former chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung and other leaders resigned last month. They stepped down to take responsibility for their party’s heavy defeat in the general election.

Separately, the Saenuri Party decided to construct a “reform committee” for the party’s overhaul. The spokesperson said that the committee will be tasked with recommending a new party leader and its nominee for the 2016 presidential election. The committee will operate until the convention and be headed by an outside figure.

The decision was widely perceived as a scale-down of the party’s initial resolve to conduct a complete shake-up of the party upon its election defeat.

The party had initially moved for the emergency committee chief to oversee the reform as well as party operation with matching authority. The faction close to President Park Geun-hye had reportedly opposed the idea, suggesting a reform committee be set up separately.

By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)