South Korea’s national equestrian federation elected Sohn Myung-won as its new president Thursday.

Sohn, 76, president of a private consulting firm, clinched 33 out of 35 votes and will fill the seat left vacant since February, said the Korea Equestrian Federation. Sohn was the sole candidate running for the position. He was previously CEO of Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and SsangYong Motor. 

The electoral college was constituted of 125 members randomly selected from a pool of board members, the equestrian team, referees, and associates. The ballots were not cast due to the election protocol that states a majority rule is applied when there is only one candidate in the race.

Park Sang-jin, the former president of the federation, resigned after being suspected of taking part in the illegal backing of Chung Yoo-ra, the equestrian athlete daughter of Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of former President Park Geun-hye.

Sohn will stay in office until December 2020. He will manage the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics during his term.

By Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)