Go to contents

Leading liberal politician snubs running for party chairman

Leading liberal politician snubs running for party chairman

Posted March. 12, 2013 02:57,   

한국어

Former lawmaker Kim Boo-kyum (photo) of the main opposition Democratic United Party ruled out running for chairman in the May 4 party convention Monday, saying, "I feel great responsibility over our party`s defeat in the last presidential election."

The party will elect its new leadership at the convention and Kim was considered a favorite for chairman. He is the first to use the word "responsibility" when speaking of the election among campaign staff of Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park Geun-hye.

"It was painful for me to hear what kind of party has nobody to take responsibility over the presidential election defeat. I was incompetent and helpless as co-leader of the election campaign, but I was hesitating and turned a blind eye. I feel ashamed,” Kim said in a speech. “What hurt me the most was people saying, ‘Kim Bu-gyum runs in the election on behalf of the pro-Roh (former president Roh Moo-hyun) clan.’ Those who claim this are trying to divide the blame between pro- Roh and anti-Roh forces, while judging them responsible for the presidential election defeat. The upcoming party convention should never be divisive between those backing Roh and those against him. That will prove regressive and possibly invite a split of the party after the party convention.”

Kim is said to have considered the sentiment of voters in his constituency, Daegu’s Suseong-gap. "Many people told me that it won`t be good for me to stand against President Park, who came from this region,” he said.

Mainstream members of the pro-Roh clan, who lost a candidate in Kim, are expected to scramble to find a counterpart to Rep. Kim Han-gil, who will represent the non-mainstream faction.

Kim Du-kwan, former governor of South Gyeongsang Province who left for Germany on Monday for six months of study at Freie Universität Berlin, is said to have told his friends, “I regret running in the party primary for presidential election when I wasn`t ready and suffered such a miserable loss. I stepped down (as governor) out of personal ambition.”



irun@donga.com