Roh, Chung at Odds over Single Candidacy

Chung Mong-jun, the presidential candidate of the National Alliance 21 suggested that the cadidate for the Dec. 19 presidential election be selected through a wervey of party delegates and the public.

But Lee Hae-chan, chief negotiator of the Millennium Democratic Party(MDP) refused the proposal, saying that the proposal made by Chung was aimed to bring about a split in the MDP.

Amid this stalemate of their negotiation, both parties held an unofficial meeting yesterday afternoon in an attempt to iron out their differences.

Another meeting was held between close aides of both presidential runners in preparation for the proposed meeting between Roh and Chung. At the meeting both sides consulted on agenda and schedule for the talks between Roh and Chung and decided to meet again this morning.

Earlier the day, Lee Chul, chief negotiator of the National Alliance 21 told reporters that in order to field a single candidate successfully, the party is willing to make concession to the MDP about the method to choose a single candidate, which has been a stumbling block to the negotiation. He proposed that a single candidate be selected based on surveys of the public and party delegates.

Sung-Won Park Jeong-Hun Kim swpark@donga.com jnghn@donga.com