Chairman Choe Raises ‘Chang’s Responsibility’

The opposition Grand National Party(GNP) chairman Chaoe Byung-yul raised publicly on February 17 the responsibility of former party leader Lee Hoe-Chang and former party chief Suh Chung-won over the current crisis of the party.

In response to this, former president Lee and minority legislators in the party resisted that “chairman Choe places the blame to others without making his self-sacrifice.” The internal feuds ignited by the request for resignation of Choe are expected to proliferate.

This day chairman Choe attended the invitation forum of Gwanhun Club, a senior journalist meeting and argued that “the essence of the crisis the GNP confronts now started from the illegal campaign fund raising during the 2002 presidential election” adding that the presidential candidate Lee was at the center of the illegal fund raising scandal.

Also, he indirectly urged the former party leader’s resolution quoting his remarks that “he will hold all the responsibility and go to the prison willingly if he has to.”

Especially in relation to the Congress’s decision to release former party chief Suh Chung-won from the prison, he “made an apology to the people” and pressed former party chief Suh saying that “Rep. Suh will not avoid the anger of the people now.”

He also revealed in relation to his course of action that “he will not run for Gap of Gang-nam Seoul, his constituency district, but as to party minority legislators’ demand for his resignation he spurned their proposal saying that “if I resign at this time of crisis, I will be criticized cruelly in the history of the party”

.

He continued to make a promise as a set of reform measures that he will sell the central headquarters building of the party and push ahead to dispose Cheonan Training Institute to the court for reimbursement of illegal campaign funds, reform the current nomination system, and reform the party at the level of establishing a new party at the beginning of March, along with the early launching of a countermeasure-committee for the general elections comprising important figures from outside and inside the party.

With regard to this, an aide to former leader Lee defied saying that “Chairman Choe showed his sense of reality to live alone by killing others.” Legislator Nam Kyung-pil also criticized chairman Choe for his lack of self-sacrificial decision.

Meanwhile, it was known that some Congressmen including minority legislators will soon have an urgent meeting to discuss measures like the demand for the resignation of Choe.

Yeon-Wook Jung Myoung-Gun Lee jyw11@donga.com gun43@donga.com