Younger Saenuri lawmakers condemn factionalism within the party

Young lawmakers of the ruling Saenuri Party strongly criticized factional conflict within the party, which flared up after the pro-Park Geun-hye faction protested party leader Kim Moo-sung, by labeling it “a sign of the party’s demise.”

"We have shared the understanding that factional egoism is a sign of the party’s demise,” Rep. Ha Tae-kyung said at a general meeting of first and second-term lawmakers on Monday. “We express concern over the fact that strife for posts between factions lies behind the sudden change of rules for election of the party’s local chapter chairmen.”

“Factions are meaningful only when they serve to provide sound check and balance to ensure efficient and seamless state administration,” Rep. Kim Young-woo, a second-term lawmaker, said. “We should not make the mistake of turning the president into the president of a certain faction by ourselves.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Chung Byung-gook, a four-term lawmaker, told a radio talk show on the day, “Looking into backgrounds of pro-Park faction members, relationships (among pro-Park faction members) are distant,” adding, “Aren’t’ they forming a united front to seek personal interest such as candidate nomination.” On the pro-Park faction’s opposition to the appointment of Park Se-il, honorary chairman of the Hansun (Korean Peninsula Advancement) Foundation, as director of the party’s Yeouido Institute, Chung claimed, “Individuals can express their support or opposition, but there must be intention lying behind collective opposition to the appointment.”