Labor Party Leadership Resigns

Democratic Labor Party (DLP) leaders, including party leader Kim Hye-kyung, resigned Monday in the aftermath of the party’s defeat in the October 26 by-elections.

The DLP held a top-level meeting Monday presided over by Kim at its head office in Yeouido and decide their resignations. They have been in leadership positions for 17 months since June 2004.

Kim said in the press conference that the disastrous defeat in north Ulsan clearly showed that the party had failed to create a passionate drive and enthusiasm among laborers and people. “For self-reflection and innovation of the party, I’m resigning from the position of party leader,” Kim said.

An emergency council to temporarily represent the party leadership will be created through a joint meeting of lawmakers and representatives from regional offices across the nation scheduled for November 2. The emergency council will manage the DLP until the next election in January 2006.

There was a long, heated debate among the party members regarding whether the entire leadership should resign, because a few leadership members had refused to resign. They reportedly claimed that there would be no point in resigning now since the party reshuffling schedule had already been moved up to next January.

The DLP expected to win the north Ulsan district seat, which former DLP lawmaker Cho Seung-soo had lost due to an election law violation. However the party didn’t make it, failing to deal with struggles regular workers and temporary workers.

Jung-Eun Lee lightee@donga.com