PM Losing Support Among Uri Lawmakers

With Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan’s golf scandal showing no signs of abatement, more ruling party lawmakers are calling for the prime minister to resign.

Lee says that he won’t tender his resignation until the suspicions over his golf outing on March 1 subside, and after the prosecution releases its investigation findings, however.

This confrontation is a sign that ruling party lawmakers may have a hard time reaching an agreement on Lee’s resignation in a meeting with President Roh Moo-hyun, who will be back in Korea on March 14 after visiting three African countries.

“It is out of question that Lee should be forced step down because he enjoyed a golf outing on the March 1 movement’s anniversary,” sources from the prime minister’s office said. “Lee says that there is nothing for him to feel guilty about. We believe that the prosecution’s investigation will clear whatever suspicions remain against Lee.”

Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae is maintaining a wait-and-see attitude. “While Lee’s resignation is a big question for us, we have nothing to say until after President Roh comes back on March 14,” said a source from Cheong Wa Dae. “We will take into account various opinions without haste.”

Regarding this, the ruling Uri Party’s leading lawmakers convened a closed-door meeting and gathered opinions from its members.

“At first we thought, ‘What is wrong with playing golf?’ But after talks with party members last Saturday, we noticed that many members had shifted their views and said that it is necessary for Lee to step down,” one leading Uri Party member said. “When President Roh returns, I will deliver this view to president.”

Kim Geun-tae, the Uri Party’s senior lawmaker who has maintained that Lee should remain in office, changed his position recently, saying, “We are facing a different situation.”

But many lawmakers who support President Roh’s policy directions still oppose the resignation of the prime minister, saying, “If Lee leaves office before the local elections are finished, the Grand National Party will gain more election influence because the Uri Party will be concentrating on new prime minister appointment procedures such as confirmation hearings.”

Min-Hyuk Park jin0619@donga.com mhpark@donga.com