Snubbed GNP Lawmakers to Form Pro-Park Alliance

Incumbent lawmakers close to former Grand National Party Chairwoman Park Geun-hye who were snubbed as candidates for the general elections will form a new alliance centered around Park.

Rep. Kim Moo-sung and about ten pro-Park lawmakers of the conservative party made the decision yesterday after a meeting in Seoul. They have declared that they will bolt from their party.

Among them are Suh Chung-won, an adviser to Park during the party primaries last year, and Rep. Hong Sa-duk, who was Park’s chief campaigner.

Park Jong-keun and Lee Hae-bong (Daegu); Lee Kyeong-jae (Incheon); Lee In-ki and Kim Tae-whan (North Gyeongsang Province); Yu Ki-june; Han Sun-kyo (Gyeonggi Province); and senior party member Jeon Yong-won (Gyeonggi Province) will reportedly join the independent alliance.

“We have decided to run in the elections in consideration of the situation that each person faces and return alive so that we can join forces to make Park Geun-hye president,“ Kim told reporters after the meeting.

“Although independent candidates cannot help the campaigns of other independent candidates, we can identify ourselves as pro-Park on election posters. So we are studying ways to form a coalition.”

Kim added, “We will strictly limit the number of people who can join our alliance by choosing only those who worked for Park’s camp during the primaries and who have a high chance of winning in the elections.”

On if he consulted with Park on the decision, Kim said, “We had no such intention. This is something that we have to take care of.”

Lawmakers Lee Q-taek (Gyeonggi Province) and Eom Ho-sung (Busan) will also run in the general elections by joining and changing the nature of the Future Korea Party as a pro-Park party.

Pro-Park figures will also employ a two-track strategy that allows them to run in either of two ways best suited for each candidate in their constituency and establish a united front.

sunshade@donga.com