Pro-Lee figures turn against Rep. Park; DUP low-key over scandal


While the prosecution stepped up its investigation on vote-buying allegations, members of the ruling Grand National Party became engaged in a battle attempting to pass responsibility off to others.

Leading figures of the main opposition Democratic United Party, on the other hand, largely remained low-key over suspicions that the liberal camp also indulged in the custom of offering bribes during internal elections.

Rep. Park Hee-tae, parliamentary speaker and former GNP chairman, recently came under scrutiny after a whistle-blower’s revelation that he handed out cash envelopes to fellow lawmakers in the party’s leadership vote in 2008.

Park, who is also close to President Lee Myung-bak, has so far denied the charges, but his involvement greatly worried the party ahead of the general elections slated for April.

The pro-Lee group, however, launched a counterattack against other members.

“The preliminary race to select the presidential candidate in 2007 also involved a large amount of unofficial funding,” said Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, former party chairman.

“Unless these customs change, this year’s election will once again be a money fight.”

Hong thus took aim at Rep. Park Geun-hye, the party’s interim leader and presidential hopeful, who participated in the 2007 race against the president.

Rep. Won Hee-ryong, another pro-Lee figure, also claimed that the party’s past races were full of irregularities.

However, both refrained from elaborating on details, leading to suspicions that their intention was to cast the blame onto the chairwoman and disrupt the party’s current power structure.

Verbal insults were also exchanged on Twitter between the party’s leading reformer Rep. Chung Doo-un and Rep. Koh Seung-duk, as the former posted acidic remarks against the whistle-blower.

Amid the internal mudslinging, some members once again demanded that the party close down and restart under a new name.

“The GNP is caught up in a futile civil war and cannot last this way any longer,” said Chung on his Twitter feed.

The party was also caught in an identity dispute Wednesday as a member of the decision-making body attempted to delete the term “conservative” from the party’s platform.

The council, however, decided to rule out the suggestion.

While the right wing remained restless, the DUP took a more cautious stance over its own bribery allegations.

Following the scandal involving the parliamentary speaker and GNP officials, it was suggested that the liberal party, too, made attempts of vote-buying in recent leadership races.

However, the party’s leading figures and presidential hopefuls ― Reps. Sohn Hak-kyu, Chung Dong-young and Chung Sye-kyun ― refrained from speaking out on the unsettling issue.

Rep. Park Jie-won, former Democratic Party floor leader and aspiring DUP chairman, also spoke passively on the scandal, though he firmly denied involvement.

On the other hand, those from the civic group-based Citizen Integration Party called for a thorough investigation into the given suspicions and demanded that the corresponding members be excluded from the candidate list.

Despite the ongoing disputes, the DUP pledged to hold its national convention on Sunday as originally scheduled, officials said.

By Bae Hyun-jung
(tellme@heraldcorp.com)