Underdogs throw blame at Park for possible nomination irregularities


The ruling Saenuri Party is wrestling with a membership database leak, giving new ammunition to challengers to frontrunner Park Geun-hye in its upcoming presidential primary.

A ranking Saenuri official was arrested last weekend on charges of selling the ruling party’s list of 2.2 million members to a private communications company between January and March.

Allegations have emerged that the list may have been exploited in the nomination process for the April parliamentary elections.

The period of the leak overlaps the party’s nomination, thus raising speculation that some contenders or pollsters may have used it to influence the selection of its candidates.

“Because the list was in the form of a (computer) file, there is the possibility of (the list) being leaked anywhere,” said Rep. Park Min-shik, who heads the party’s internal probe of the incident, in a radio interview Tuesday.

“But it is a matter that must be addressed in the next step (of the investigation) to see how much of the records were used in the election and whether they influenced the nomination, as the leak occurred before the general elections.”

He also said that the official appears to have gotten the list from a party employee, who had access to the membership records.

The party’s leadership, meanwhile, tried to curb the speculation.

“Although there are (concerns) about the list being leaked and used elsewhere or having influenced the election, it has so far been revealed that there is no such connection,” secretary-general Suh Byung-soo said at the party’s general meeting.

“As there is a process in which the poll book is accurately written and delivered to every candidate, it is the investigation team’s position that (the leaked list) could not have hampered the election,” he added.

The official identified as Lee was dropped from the party’s nomination for the proportional seat around March, which is around the time he allegedly sold the members’ list for 4 million won, according to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office.

“We need to take a closer look into the case to figure out whether there is any objective data that can support suspicions that the incident was an organized one,” Park said.

Lee is reportedly denying the charge, claiming he simply stored the list at the text message service company run by his friend without ill intention.

As the fallout showed signs of burgeoning, the Saenuri Party’s non-mainstream members immediately hurled blame at the leadership and presidential frontrunner, former chairwoman Park Geun-hye.

“If there are circumstances that indicate (the list) was used in other affairs, the people who were supervising those in question must obviously take political responsibility,” said Rep. Kim Yong-tae, who is a close associate of Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Moon-soo.

Former lawmaker Shin Ji-ho, also of the Kim faction, said, “Former chairwoman Park and former secretary general Kwon Young-se have the responsibility as the membership list was leaked under their leadership.”

Park Geun-hye had led the party to a surprise victory in the April 11 election against the main opposition Democratic United Party, which was largely attributed to her hardnosed nomination of new candidates against older members and those close to President Lee Myung-bak.

The underdogs including Kim and Reps. Chung Mong-joon and Lee Jae-oh have been upping their offensives against Park, calling for an overhaul of the party’s primary rules.

In a gesture widely seen as targeting Park, the three released a press statement Tuesday proposing a roundtable among all presidential hopefuls to discuss the primary rules.

Park has been keeping mum on the primary issue while her associates have flatly shunned the trio’s demand to hold fully open primaries.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)