ed Overhaul of progressives

UPP mainstreamers should honor public opinion

The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions decided to withdraw its support for the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP) after a marathon meeting Thursday that lasted late into the night.

Yet the KCTU, one of the country’s two leading labor umbrella groups, attached conditions, saying it will give back its support to the progressive party if its demands ― resignation of disputed proportional representatives and other resolutions reached in the UPP central committee meeting ― are met.

With the decision, the crisis within the party is at a crucial phase because nearly one third of its 130,000 members belong to the labor group. The UPP has been mired in factional strife since the April 11 National Assembly elections as the party’s primary to elect proportional representative candidates were rigged and the pro-North Korean mainstream faction halted a central committee meeting by force.

Of 14 proportional candidates who were elected in the rigged primary, 10 expressed their intention to resign but four, all of whom are reportedly North Korea sympathizers, refused to do so. Of the four, Lee Seok-gi and Kim Jae-yeon, both key members of the hard-line Gyeonggi Dongbu Alliance that allegedly follows North Korea’s ``juche’’ (self-reliance) ideology, will become lawmakers once the 19th National Assembly begins its session May 30 after registering as representatives.

The leftist party’s wrangling has been deadlocked as the mainstream faction rejected an emergency leadership launched last weekend and said it would form its own emergency council for the party. This confrontation will result in the UPP being two families under one roof, raising fears that people’s support for the left-leaning party will disappear completely. In the April 11 elections, the UPP won seven electoral constituencies and six proportional representative seats with support of over 10 percent.

More recently, the UPP has been under severe criticism for being a hotbed of pro-North Korea figures by conservatives who warn that such sympathizers will become lawmakers here soon. In fact, some of the party’s mainstreamers are alleged to be North Korean spies and many of them, including former leader Lee Jung-hee, don’t reveal their clear positions on the 1950-53 Korean War and North Korea’s human rights conditions. Intelligence experts express concern that the ``problematic’’ lawmakers will gain access to state secrets, which might ultimately be funneled to North Korea.

To cope with the latest crisis, the UPP’s mainstream faction should accept the new emergency leadership headed by Rep. Kang Ki-kab and get its members elected in the rigged primary to step down. An opinion poll showed that 76 percent of respondents called for their resignation and that the approval rating for the progressive party has dipped to 4 percent.

Feeling the pinch of the progressive party, even liberal newspapers, which have been lenient toward North Korea, lashed out at the mainstream faction, noting that the party might split into two.

To our regret, however, the mainstream appears out of their wits, looking at the recent brawl as a passing phenomenon. It’s quite surprising to hear that Lee Seok-gi, the alleged leader of the UPP’s NL (National Liberation) group, said, ``Stepping down means a catastrophe.’’

His stubborn clinging to an Assembly seat is certain to shame the entire liberal circle in South Korea, and spawns suspicion that he might be making his desperate effort to become a lawmaker following an order from North Korea, as some conservatives argue.

The rigging scandal is not a light matter and unless it’s addressed properly and seriously, liberal politics as well as the UPP will face extinction.