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| Former Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Moon Jae-in, the leading presidential hopeful, greets reporters ahead of a meeting at a restaurant on Yeouido, southern Seoul, Wednesday. The DPK labeled outgoing U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon as an "opportunist," after Ban virtually declared his presidential bid. / Yonhap |
He may join hands with Park dissenters, People's Party or both
By Jun Ji-hye
After the outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon virtually declared his bid for the South Korean presidency, speculation is rampant about which party he will select.
Ban has yet to clarify which party he will join, though it had been believed he is backed by President Park Geun-hye and her loyalists as the ruling Saenuri Party's candidate.
However, after Park was impeached by the National Assembly, Dec. 9, the U.N. chief has made critical comments about her, apparently distancing himself from the scandal-ridden leader and the pro-Park faction. Observers say there is little possibility of him joining the Saenuri Party.
Two plausible possibilities are now being raised — one is of Ban joining a new conservative party expected to be set up by Park dissenters from the Saenuri Party, and the other is of him joining the second largest opposition People's Party.
The new party would be set up by 35 lawmakers, including Reps. Yoo Seong-min and Kim Moo-sung, who are also considered possible contenders for the 2017 presidential race.
Even before the President's impeachment, they had been at odds with Park and her followers who dominated the Saenuri Party.
After returning home in mid-January, Ban could possibly join forces with these lawmakers.
In this case, more lawmakers of the Saenuri Party are expected to defect to join the new party, given that Ban has maintained his top place in opinion polls among the potential conservative presidential candidates.
Former ruling party floor leader Rep. Chung Jin-suk, one of the moderate Saenuri Party lawmakers who is known to be close with the U.N. chief, noted that Ban is expected to affliate himself with like-minded people and determine his way after returning home.
"I believe many people would agree that Ban will open the door to the new conservatism," Chung said.
The People's Party has also appeared to make efforts to recruit Ban in an apparent bid to hold Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in check. Moon has been the voters' favorite candidate in opinion polls among all conservative and liberal candidates in recent weeks.
The People's Party apparently believes that its presidential candidate, Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, who ranked third or fourth in opinion polls, should band together with Ban to beat Moon.
Rep. Park Jie-won, the floor leader of the People's Party, also told reporters, Wednesday, "I heard from one of Ban's aides that he does not want to join the Saenuri Party or the DPK, but he is very interested in the People's Party."
The party's interim leader Rep. Kim Dong-cheol also said, "I think he can join us."
For its part, the DPK has appeared to be attempting to keep Ban in check, criticizing him for having sided with policies pushed by the Park Geun-hye government, including the agreement between Korea and Japan on resolving the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, which has been criticized by some of the surviving victims and activists for failing to obtain Japan's acknowledgment of its legal responsibility.
Moon told reporters, Tuesday, "Ban has praised the Park Geun-hye leadership for the past four years, and now he is suddenly talking about the new leadership."
Observers say that if Ban joined the People's Party, it could negatively affect the ongoing cooperation between the opposition parties in ousting Park, while she and her lawyer are currently making every effort to persuade the Constitutional Court to rule against her impeachment, which will allow her to stay on as president.
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