New Party Central Committee Membership Distributed among Each Faction

Amidst increasing criticism that the United New Democratic Party (UNDP) is nothing but a restoration of the former ruling Uri Party, some people even claim that the UNDP is worse than the Uri Party.

This criticism comes from the lack of transparency in the process of appointing party executives and selecting the central committee members, which has been heavily influenced by the preferences of certain politicians. This practice resulted in reduced diversity in terms of party members’ originality and gave the impression that the establishment of the UNDP is a retrograde step in the development of the nation’s democracy, based on the political party system.

Even though Oh Chung-il, chairman of the UNDP, often mentioned at official events ‘the new unity,’ instead of ‘the great unity,’ as a term to describe the UNDP, there is a distinct shortage of new faces.

Besides, there was friction in the central committee appointment process. A certain member even said, “I just allowed my name to be listed as committee members.” Regarding this, the UNDP members argue: “Don’t take it seriously. This is just a temporary system to be continued until the presidential election.” However, there is widespread criticism that, “Even if it is so, the basic rules should be observed.”

In appointing members of the party’s central committee – its highest decision-making body that handles most of the party’s administrative affairs – the UNDP utilized a practical method that distributes the seats among each political faction. Of the 400 committee seats, half went to politicians, and the other half to civic groups.

Of the 200 seats assigned to politicians, many of them were taken by those who have close relationships with presidential candidates or the key members in each faction. Furthermore, they didn’t go through qualification screening under the pretext of too little time.

In addition, the UNDP informally elected the party’s floor leader yesterday. Regarding this election, some lawmakers, including Lee Seok-hyeon, said, “These are not steps that a new party usually takes.”

In fact, the process of electing central committee members structurally prevents newcomers from joining the party movement. According to the UNDP, a faction that comprises defectors from the Uri Party, including Jeon Byeong-heon and Lee Kang-rae, gave preference to former politicians of the Uri and Democratic Parties who have lost in the past general elections, former party executives, and former senior members.

Meanwhile, a group which supports the former Gyeonggi Governor, Sohn Hak-gyu, is made up of members of the Advanced Peace Alliance, Sohn’s supporting group, and politicians, including Lee Ho-ung, a lawmaker who left the Uri Party. In addition, former and current government officials who used to work for Sohn, during his time as governor, joined the faction. These officials include Jeong Seung-woo, the former vice-governor of the administration in Gyeonggi-do, and Yeo Sun-ho, the former family and women policy bureau director in Gyeonggi-do. Lawmakers of Gyeonggi-do assembly such as Kim Dae-suk (the main opposition Grand National Party) also joined the group.

The faction comprising Democratic Party defectors, which is led by Rep. Kim Hyo-seok, invited former members of the Democratic Party who lost in the past general elections and local elections to join them. This group is mostly composed of former politicians from Honam region, who used to work together with former president Kim Dae-jung; including Kim Chang-hwan, Yoo In-hak, Kim Jang-gon. They are mostly aged in their 60s or 70s.

One lawmaker from the Uri Party said, “The reason why we put the world “new” in the UNDP title is not because we are a new group made up of new members. Rather, it is to stress our intentions of covering new ground in the future.”

Meanwhile, some central committee members who come from the civic groups expressed low interest in committee’s activities; with some even saying, “I am not interested in working on this. I just allowed my name to be listed as the committee members.”

In fact, by the morning of August 2, three days before the announcement of the new party’s inception, the 50 seats out of 200 assigned to civic groups were left unfilled. In addition, from July 24 to August 7, 20 members of the central committee resigned soon after their appointments. This has spelled drastic changes in committee membership.

K, a professor who is an expert on North Korea issues, said, “My friend called me and asked if he could appoint me as a promoter of the central committee; to which I replied, ‘no problem.’” K added that, “I agreed in the hope that this political alliance could promote an engagement policy with North Korea. As a matter of fact, I had no intention of taking part in political activities.” He also said, “I didn’t go to the party’s formation celebration, or meetings of the central committees, because there is nothing I can help them.”

L, a university professor of oriental medicine, said, “I was just involved in the activities of the civic group, Future Creation Alliance (FCA), as a means to participate in civic movements. Later, I became a member of the central committee of the new party because of my involvement in the FCA.” Regarding the reason he joined the FCA, L said, “Oriental medicine study circles just recommended me to the FCA,” adding, “I am not interested in politics and don’t know much about it.”

On the other hand, regarding impressions of the new party, some scholars claim, “This is not a political party, but a league for election.”

Kang Won-taek, professor of politics and diplomacy at Soongsil University, said, “In general, political parties are defined as a political gathering of persons with the same purpose who work together to win political power. According to this definition, the new party didn’t meet all standards,” adding, “Considering the composition of party members, the political goal, and the maturity of democracy, the UNDP doesn’t have sufficient cause as a political party.”

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