Eliminated Lawmakers Defect from Parties

Both ruling and oppositional parties are facing a storm due to a backlash from incumbent lawmakers, who failed to win a ticket to run in the upcoming April general elections.

In the ruling Grand National Party, a group of pro-Park Geun-hye lawmakers strongly protested the party’s decision to exclude them from its candidate selection list, hinting of a mass defection on Friday. In the main opposition United Democratic Party, Rep. Rhee In-je and a group of incumbent lawmakers who lost their chance to get re-elected in the Jeolla provinces are preparing to bolt from the party.

“(The party’s nomination screening committee) eliminated certain candidates in the nomination due to personal reasons,” former GNP Chairwoman Park was quoted as saying through her public relations secretary Lee Jung-hyun.

GNP Supreme Council member Kim Moo-sung, whose name had been excluded from the nomination list for the Gyeongsang provinces, announced his decision to withdraw from the party in a press conference on Friday.

Kim, who is one of Park’s confidants, said, “(President Lee Myung-bak’s close aides) Lee Jae-oh and Lee Bang-ho have been attempting to kill Park Geun-hye under the disguise of reform. They have also been trying to remove me, the biggest obstacle for them to control the party.” He concluded, “Though my body will leave the party, my spirit will remain.”

Around ten pro-Park lawmakers who were also eliminated met on Friday to discuss their future plans, mulling over whether or not to run in the general elections by joining the Future Korea Party or the Liberty Forward Party.

Meanwhile, out of the 118 candidates that the screening committee picked, the GNP confirmed the nomination of 110 candidates in a supreme council meeting. Nomination of the remaining eight candidates has been suspended due to their history of defecting from the party or objecting the party’s decisions.

The eight candidates are Ahn Myung-yong (Seoul), Park Sang-eun (Incheon), Lee Hak-jae (Incheon), Kim Tae-ki (Gangwon Province), Kim Byung-il (North Chungcheong Province), Yoon Jong-nam (South Chungcheong Province), Kim Ho-yeon (South Chungcheong Province), and Jung Jae-hak (Gyeonggi Province).

All candidates that the screen committee recommended for the Gyeongsang provinces on Thursday were approved. So far, the GNP has finalized its candidates for 216 constituencies out of 245.

UNP lawmaker Rhee announced in a press conference on Friday, “I have to say that the party expelled me through the nomination. Once again, I will stand in the wilderness alone and decide my future course after listening to my fellow politicians and the voters that have raised me up.”

On the remark that his elimination is because he has frequently switched parties, Rhee refuted it, saying, “I have always stuck with reform forces.”

In addition, Rep. Lee Keun-sik, who was also eliminated in the nomination process, submitted a document declaring his departure from the UNP. Other disqualified candidates in the Jeolla provinces, such as Shin Jung-sik, Lee Sang-yul, and Chae Il-Byung, have decided to form a group, tentatively titled, the Democratic Peace Alliance.

sunshade@donga.com koh@donga.com