United Progressive Party faces breakup
Up to 43,000 members may leave pro-NK party
By Lee Tae-hoon
The minor opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) is on the verge of breaking apart as a growing number of reform-minded lawmakers and members express their intent to walk away from the left-leaning party engulfed in an internal feud.
According to party insiders Monday, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the nation's second-largest umbrella labor union group that forms the backbone of the UPP, will hold a meeting Aug. 13 to decide whether to leave the strife-ridden party en masse.
Of 58,000 fee-paying UPP members, some 35,000 are affiliated with the KCTU, making the labor group one of the largest stakeholders of the pro-North Korean party.
The KCTU announced in May that it would withdraw its backing for the UPP unless the party’s leadership, headed by chairman Kang Ki-kab, successfully implemented a set of reform measures it promised.
The list of steps included the expulsion of Reps. Lee Seok-ki and Kim Jae-yeon, who have been accused of securing proportional representation seats in the National Assembly through voting fraud.
However, the plan to oust the two scandal-ridden lawmakers was abandoned Thursday as only six of the UPP’s 13 legislators voted in favor of the move to expel them at a party meeting.
A KCTU official said the union will soon declare the withdrawal of its support for the UPP and encourage its members to follow suit.
Moreover, some 8,000 UPP members who belonged to the defunct People’s Participation Party (PPP) are also threatening to leave in protest of the party’s failure to remove Lee and Jae.
The PPP, which was led by Rhyu Si-min, merged with the Democratic Labor Party and the New Progressive Party late last year in hopes of winning more parliamentary seats ahead of April’s National Assembly elections.
Rhyu, a former co-chairman of the UPP, hinted that he may give up his fight to bring change within the UPP, which rose to become the third-largest political bloc in the current 19th National Assembly.
“There will be no need to keep up the fight within the party without means and ways to overhaul it, without a chance for success and without the ability to draw a meaningful outcome for the people,” the former health and welfare minister said in a message posted on the UPP’s website.
“It is time to mull several options, such as mass defection, dissolution of the party, launch of a coalition force for reform within the party and the creation of a new progressive party.”
A former PPP member said the majority of Rhyu’s followers want to turn their backs on the UPP as they believe the unified progressive block has completely lost the faith of the people.
“The PPP should leave the UPP and seek ways to form a new liberal political block which is flexible enough to join hands with the main opposition Democratic United Party for the upcoming presidential election,” he said.
Another party insider said that the decision will likely be made within two weeks as former and disgruntled UPP members plan to hold a series of meetings to find a solution.