By Kim Hyo-jin
Rival parties are entering campaign mode for the April 13 general election, launching planning committees following the wrap-up of candidate nominations marred by factional feuds.
With just 17 days before the polls, each party has set lofty goals in the parliamentary race.
The ruling Saenuri Party aims at securing a majority of seats in the 300 unicameral Assembly, while the Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) is seeking to win 130 seats. The minor opposition People's Party is expecting 20 seats to form a negotiation body.
However, political pundits say that they all face major hurdles in the race, with a number of variables rendering the election highly unpredictable, including a possible alliance of opposition forces.
How independent candidates who quit the ruling party after its nomination conflicts will affect voter sentiment also remains a key variable.
The Saenuri Party will launch its election planning committee on Monday, with five co-chairmen leading the nationwide campaign.
They are Kang Bong-kyun, a former finance minister under the liberal Kim Dae-jung government who has recently been recruited as a counterbalance to the MPK's Kim Chong-in; Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung; floor leader Rep. Won Yoo-chul; and Supreme Council members Reps. Suh Chung-won and Rhee In-je.
Following the factional row over nominations that dented the party's approval rating, it has adjusted its goal from winning 180 seats to 150 plus.
The leadership had been confident of winning 180 seats, a number allowing the party to pass contentious legislation without reaching a consensus with minor parties.
"Securing 180 seats is neither expectable nor possible," said Cho Dong-won, the party's public relations director, while laying out pledges for the upcoming election.
He presented five pledges including improving employees' rights; introducing job flexibility; support for young adults and the elderly in search of career changes; and the establishment of more childcare centers. Cho said the party leadership has agreed to forego their salaries if they fail to live up to the pledges by May next year.
"The election should be a judgment on the opposition parties that caused legislative deadlock while stalling pending reform bills," he said, underlining the importance of the National Assembly's support for President Park Geun-hye's remaining term.
The MPK is expected to launch its election planning committee under interim leader Kim Chong-in this week. Rep. Chin Young, former health and welfare minister who recently quit the Saenuri Party, and Kim Jin-pyo, former vice economic minister were earlier appointed as co-vice chairmen to spearhead the election campaign.
This reflects the party's determination in election pledges centered on welfare improvement and "economic democracy" that stresses distribution over development.
Kim, an architect of President Park's pledge for economic democracy, said the election should be a judgment on the government that aggravated the economic situation of ordinary citizens.
He earlier vowed to step down if the MPK fails to win its current 107 seats. But party officials say the party could possibly secure 130.
The result of the election, however, remains unpredictable, observers said.
Talks of putting up a single candidate could go on between candidates of the MPK and the People's Party in respective districts until April 4 when ballot papers are scheduled to be printed. Of 253 constituencies, multiple opposition parties will compete against the ruling party in 178 including 105 in metropolitan areas.
Moreover, if the independent candidates who bolted from the Saenuri Party after being excluded from the nominations form a coalition centering on Rep. Yoo Seong-min, it could threaten the ruling party's influence in its home turf of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.
Yoo, the former floor leader estranged from Park, is running as a single candidate in a Daegu district. When the Park loyalists-controlled nominations committee postponed his candidacy, the party's approval rating plunged in its home ground, according to recent polls.
Rival parties are entering campaign mode for the April 13 general election, launching planning committees following the wrap-up of candidate nominations marred by factional feuds.
With just 17 days before the polls, each party has set lofty goals in the parliamentary race.
The ruling Saenuri Party aims at securing a majority of seats in the 300 unicameral Assembly, while the Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) is seeking to win 130 seats. The minor opposition People's Party is expecting 20 seats to form a negotiation body.
However, political pundits say that they all face major hurdles in the race, with a number of variables rendering the election highly unpredictable, including a possible alliance of opposition forces.
How independent candidates who quit the ruling party after its nomination conflicts will affect voter sentiment also remains a key variable.
The Saenuri Party will launch its election planning committee on Monday, with five co-chairmen leading the nationwide campaign.
They are Kang Bong-kyun, a former finance minister under the liberal Kim Dae-jung government who has recently been recruited as a counterbalance to the MPK's Kim Chong-in; Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung; floor leader Rep. Won Yoo-chul; and Supreme Council members Reps. Suh Chung-won and Rhee In-je.
Following the factional row over nominations that dented the party's approval rating, it has adjusted its goal from winning 180 seats to 150 plus.
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The leadership had been confident of winning 180 seats, a number allowing the party to pass contentious legislation without reaching a consensus with minor parties.
"Securing 180 seats is neither expectable nor possible," said Cho Dong-won, the party's public relations director, while laying out pledges for the upcoming election.
He presented five pledges including improving employees' rights; introducing job flexibility; support for young adults and the elderly in search of career changes; and the establishment of more childcare centers. Cho said the party leadership has agreed to forego their salaries if they fail to live up to the pledges by May next year.
"The election should be a judgment on the opposition parties that caused legislative deadlock while stalling pending reform bills," he said, underlining the importance of the National Assembly's support for President Park Geun-hye's remaining term.
The MPK is expected to launch its election planning committee under interim leader Kim Chong-in this week. Rep. Chin Young, former health and welfare minister who recently quit the Saenuri Party, and Kim Jin-pyo, former vice economic minister were earlier appointed as co-vice chairmen to spearhead the election campaign.
This reflects the party's determination in election pledges centered on welfare improvement and "economic democracy" that stresses distribution over development.
Kim, an architect of President Park's pledge for economic democracy, said the election should be a judgment on the government that aggravated the economic situation of ordinary citizens.
He earlier vowed to step down if the MPK fails to win its current 107 seats. But party officials say the party could possibly secure 130.
The result of the election, however, remains unpredictable, observers said.
Talks of putting up a single candidate could go on between candidates of the MPK and the People's Party in respective districts until April 4 when ballot papers are scheduled to be printed. Of 253 constituencies, multiple opposition parties will compete against the ruling party in 178 including 105 in metropolitan areas.
Moreover, if the independent candidates who bolted from the Saenuri Party after being excluded from the nominations form a coalition centering on Rep. Yoo Seong-min, it could threaten the ruling party's influence in its home turf of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.
Yoo, the former floor leader estranged from Park, is running as a single candidate in a Daegu district. When the Park loyalists-controlled nominations committee postponed his candidacy, the party's approval rating plunged in its home ground, according to recent polls.
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