By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter

Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) made it clear last week that the plan to relocate nine ministries and four government agencies should go ahead as planned without modifications.

Her statement embarrassed President Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, indicating a possible source of friction inside the governing camp.

Without support from Park followers, it would be difficult for the GNP to pass a bill to change the status of Sejong City, 120 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at the National Assembly. The governing party would be unable to meet the quorum needed to pass it.

About 50 lawmakers inside the GNP, which commands 169 parliamentary seats out of the 299-member National Assembly, are considered followers of the former GNP chairwoman, taking up approximately a third of the ruling party.

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP), which has 86 parliamentary seats, and the minor Liberty Forward Party (LFP) with 17 seats, have also called for implementing the plan as scheduled.

Other minor parties sided with the two opposition parties, indicating that more lawmakers oppose the plan.

``It is not my personal commitment. The National Assembly approved the relocation plan,'' Park said Saturday, a few days after Prime Minister Chung proposed a meeting with her to discuss the matter.

Park, who led the GNP as chairwoman when the relocation plan got parliamentary approval in 2005, said, ``If Prime Minister Chung really wants to change the master plan, he should talk to the public, not to me.''

Chung said the relocation project is a matter involving key national interests and therefore this should be considered as a more important factor than others such as trust in determining whether or not the original plan should be altered.

Political analysts speculated that the Park-Chung discord is more than trading barbs over the major national project, and that it is more of a power game between the two.

Rep. Park ran unsuccessfully in the GNP primaries to select a presidential candidate to run on its ticket in 2007, becoming the runner-up to incumbent President Lee by a razor-thin margin.

In polls, she is the most popular politician.

Meanwhile, Chung was reportedly very much interested in running in the presidential election two years ago, but decided not to run after his ratings in polls consistently marked below 5 percent.

Asked if he considered the Prime Minister position as a springboard to the top job in the 2012 presidential election, Chung said he would not run.

Despite his denial, many politicians and political analysts include him on the list of aspiring presidential candidates on the GNP ticket in the next presidential election.

hkang@koreatimes.co.kr