Election Watch: The Ides of Winter

The knives are out! And the Joongang Ilbo is following the glint of the blades.

Chung Dong-yung, the former unification minister, fired a broadside yesterday at his main rival for the leadership of the governing Uri Party, Kim Geun-tae, the former health minister. Mr. Chung and Mr. Kim quit their cabinet posts to run for the Uri Party chairmanship, in hopes it would lead to becoming that party’s presidential candidate.

Mr. Chung said, “I suspect the innocence of those who blame me for ruining the party. They have this political intrigue to estrange party members from me.” He was reacting to Mr. Kim who, when appealing for support for his reformist agenda, had earlier blamed him for the demise of the party.

. . . .
A close aide later said, “We could not just sit idle, when other factions, such as pro-Roh Moo-hyun members, appeared to agree with former minister Kim’s claims.” In preparation for the party convention Mr. Chung said, “The party can only survive when it shows efforts to shoulder responsibility on the unemployment issue and the education of the next generation.” He also stressed the need for “a powerful and competent governing party.”

In this report on Uri’s effort to plaster over its pre-election bloodbath, we have what must surely be the Creepy Quote of the Month.

Newly selected acting chairman of the party, Yoo Jay-kun, met lawmakers who
officially opposed Mr. Rhyu’s nomination and said, “The Blue House and the
governing party are like lovers. Sometimes we fight, but it’s because we love
each other. When we talk open-heartedly, the misunderstanding is gone.”

After dinner, party members retired for boilermakers and rough gay sex, followed by many awkward partings. OK, I made that last part up, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

Mr. Yoo, however, was only met with a cold reaction from the lawmakers who said the party must have more independence.

Many political analysts see the nomination of Mr. Rhyu as a symptom of an internal feud ahead of the party’s Feb. 18 party convention when a new chairman will be elected. They say that the competition is growing between anti- and pro-Roh factions. Although the party’s strong presidential contenders, Chung Dong-young and Kim Geun-tae, left ministries to run for the chairmanship, the pro-Roh faction is seeking its own candidate for the post.

Two groups in the pro-Roh faction are the Solidarity to Realize Participant Politics, led by Mr. Rhyu, and the Research Center for Parliamentary Politics. The former supports Kim Du-kwan, a former presidential aide, for the chairman’s post, while the latter supports lawmaker Kim Hyuk-kyu. Observers say that the two factions have begun discussions on putting forward a single candidate.

Meanwhile, members of the anti-Roh faction who opposed Mr. Rhyu’s nomination are starting a petition to call for his removal. One member, Kim Young-choon, sharply criticized the president on his Web site, saying, “The party must not be a simple possession of the president.” He added, “The party convention must be a chance to straighten out the party’s courses, not just a simple field of competition among members.”

An Uri faction that won’t kowtow to Roh Moo Hyun. Delicious.

They also give us the latest on the GNP somewhat less entertaining nomination battle:

The major opposition Grand National Party will elect a new floor leader today with political observers’ eyes focused on what they say is a proxy fight between the party’s two strongest presidential contenders, Chairwoman Park Geun-hye and Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak. One contender, Kim Moo-sung, is known to be pro-Park, while Lee Jae-oh, who decided to scrap his bid for Seoul mayor in the upcoming May election to run for floor leader, is considered as being in the Lee camp.

Yawwwn. The lesser of two evils will probably be the goofy one who isn’t Park Geun Hye. It’s a relief to know that I’ll vote for neither, but it’s sad that Kim Moon Soo isn’t running.