Faction launches another emergency panel, key figure Lee Seog-gi resists resignation


A faction of the far-left Unified Progressive Party on Sunday launched its own emergency panel, bringing the party closer to the brink of disintegration.

The faction is at the center of the devastating vote-rigging scandal that undermined the party’s proclaimed principles of democracy and morality. Its legitimacy as the third-largest party, having captured 13 seats in the April elections, is also being called into question.

“We took one step in our efforts to clear ourselves of false charges and restore the party’s reputation,” UPP lawmaker-elect Oh Byung-yun said during a press conference at the National Assembly.

The party now has two emergency committees, underscoring its division into two factions ― one deriving from the radical National Liberation group and the other from the more moderate People’s Democracy group.

The NL faction has refused to accept the results of the party’s internal probe into alleged irregularities in the selection of proportional representation candidates for the April 11 general election. They claim the probe was based on suspicions rather than facts.

The NL group has been accused of being pro-North Korea and upholding the communist state’s political ideology of Juche, or self-reliance.

Some of its core members, including lawmaker-elect Lee Seog-gi, served jail terms for violating the National Security Law, a primary reason why conservatives have raised concerns that their entry into parliament could threaten national security.

Launched last Monday, the emergency panel, which consists of more moderate members mostly from the PD group, has pressured two UPP lawmakers-elect to step down as their election has lost credibility due to the purportedly fraudulent primary process.

The lawmakers-elect Lee and Kim Jae-yeon have refused to withdraw. As their withdrawal is thought to be key to resolving the party’s crisis, Rep. Kang Ki-kab, chairman of the moderate emergency panel, have told them to give up their seats by Monday.

Lee and Kim, who are the core of the NL faction, have argued that they were elected legitimately, and that they cannot ignore the party members’ calls to represent their voices at the Assembly.

Should the two refuse to give up their seats, Kang’s panel is expected to take steps to erase them from the party’s membership list. But the process is likely to face tough resistance from the NL faction and other party members.

Lee and Kim have renounced their affiliation with the party’s Seoul chapter and registered as members of the chapter in Gyeonggi Province where their supporters dominate leadership posts.

Under a party rule, a member’s expulsion is to be determined by the regional chapter to which he or she belongs. Thus, their affiliation with the new chapter will help them stick with the party, observers said.

Later in the day, Kang was to discuss ways to address the party’s crisis during a meeting with liberal figures from academic, religious and political circles.

The scandal has put the party at risk of losing backing from its hardcore supporters.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the UPP’s largest base of support, even decided last Thursday to suspend its political support for the party until the lawmakers-elect whose election was marred by the scandal give up their elected seats.

The KCTU has around 800,000 registered members.

The scandal is concerned with the party’s primaries for picking proportional representation candidates. Many party members purportedly cast proxy votes. In some cases, votes that should have been invalidated were counted. In some polling stations a sole party official led the vote-counting process without any observers.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)