Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Factional strife at NPAD likely to flare up
Senior lawmakers, including floor leader Park Young-sun, right, and advisors of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NAPD) sit down for a meeting at the National Assembly, Thursday, to select a temporary leader to head the troubled party until a national convention. Attending the meeting from the left are Reps. Chung Se-kyun, Kim Han-gil, Moon Jae-in and Park Jie-won. / Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
Party stalwart Moon named interim leader
By Yi Whan-woo
Rep. Moon Hee-sang
The factional strife within the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) is flaring up as the party faces what many are calling a leadership vacuum.
Critics speculate that about nine or 10 factions exist within the NPAD, which holds 130 parliamentary seats. Party members fall into two main groups, often described as hard-liners and moderates.
None of the smaller factions has dominance in the struggle for power, said Yoon Hee-woong, the head of Min Consulting, a public opinion research firm.
And all the factions are likely to remain under NPAD’s new interim leader, Rep. Moon Hee-sang, although he will moderate the conflicts among the factions better than his predecessor, Rep. Park Young-sun, according to Yoon.
“Under the circumstances, no NPAD leader will be able to maintain effective control over the party as a whole, and any leader will only have limited leadership,” he said.
The party picked Moon, a five-term lawmaker, Thursday, to succeed Park, also the party’s floor leader who once considered leaving the NPAD.
She decided Wednesday to remain with the party although hard-line lawmakers have accused her of bungling efforts to pass a stalled Sewol investigation bill.
Yoon said it was the pro-Roh Moo-hyun lawmakers who formed the mainstream within the NPAD.
Late President Roh has long been considered a symbolic figure, representing Korean democracy, along with his predecessor Kim Dae-jung. Both former Presidents died in 2009.
According to the critics, Roh supporters consist of about 70 hard-liners who can be divided into six factions. The factions are or were led by Rep. Moon Jae-in, Rep. Chung Sye-kyun, South Chungcheong Province Governor Ahn Hee-jung, Rep. Woo Sang-ho, Rep. Sul Hoon and Rep. Kim Ki-sik.
Moon Jae-in, 61, a first-term lawmaker, served as Roh’s presidential chief of staff from March 2007 until February 2008.
Chung, 63, was a close aide to late President Kim Dae-jung and is now serving his fifth parliamentary term.
Ahn quit the party prior to the June 4 local elections, but his followers still have their own faction.
Woo, 51, a second-term lawmaker, is among the parliamentarians who began their political careers during their university years in the 1980s as radical protesters against military dictatorships.
Sul, 61, is a follower of the late Kim Geun-tae, a lawmaker who also served as Roh’s aide during his presidency from 2003 to 2008.
Kim Ki-sik, 48, is one of several first-term lawmakers in their 30s and 40s who have drawn criticism even within the party for making derogatory remarks about conservative President Park Geun-hye. Another is Rep. Chang Ha-na, 37. In August, she called the President “the enemy of the state” for refusing to meet the father of a high school student who was killed in the Sewol ferry disaster in April.
The pro-Roh factions have clashed with about 40 of their colleagues, called moderates, most of whom are loyal to one of the NPAD’s former two co-leaders ― Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo or Kim Han-gil.
Ahn and Kim stepped down following the party’s crushing defeat in the July 30 parliamentary by-elections.
Rep. Park Jie-won, the late Kim Dae-jung’s former presidential chief of staff, also leads a faction within the moderate camp.
“The opposition party had no strong leadership figures following the death of Kim Dae-jung and Roh,” Yoon said. “Since then, party members who shared the same political interests began to form factions to prevent others from kicking them out of the party. Such tendency will hamper Park’s job to reform the NPAD.”
Part of Moon’s job will be to advocate for the special Sewol bill, which would give investigative and punitive powers to a fact-finding committee to uncover the cause of the ferry disaster.