Party alarmed by absent members

Three of the ruling party`s newly elected members to the National Assembly, Reps. Kang Woon-Tae, Lee Kang-Lae and Chung Bum-Gu, have left on a trip abroad at the invitation of the U.S. government. Such a departure by the representatives comes as a shock to the members of the National Assembly, as they have pulled their support out of the current face-off between the ruling and the opposition camps.

Such an unapproved departure is without precedence, while the leaderships of the parties have called for a stance of defensive readiness by all members of the National Assembly.

"This spells death of the pyramid-system with the party chairman at the top guiding the unified movement of the party members," a source in the ruling camp said, noting the changing times and rules.

With the sudden departure of the three lawmakers, the strained face-off has lost its steam and forced the ruling party to adopt a new strategy. The leadership of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party also has came under heavy criticism for pushing the National Assembly schedule, even while it was failing to bring together a concerted effort through tight control of its members.

In observance of the party leadership`s call for readiness, the party`s chief advisor, Lee In-Jae, as well as eight other National Assembly representatives who had canceled their planned attendance at the U.S. Republican Party`s national convention, expressed their regret at the actions of the newly elected members.

"They will have to answer for their actions," Chairman of the ruling MDP, Suh Young-Hoon said.

However, another younger member of the MDP said, "There really is no illegality involved in the action by the three men, and from the point of view that their action is for the benefit of Korea on the whole, we shouldn`t blindly criticize their political activities abroad."

Cheon Seung-Hoon raphy@donga.com