Ruling party chief apologizes over 'hit list' controversy

By Kang Seung-woo

Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung apologized Monday for a controversy triggered by his private talks with a ruling party lawmaker about the April 13 general election.

On Saturday, Rep. Chung Doo-un claimed that he heard from Kim that there was a secret list of some 40 incumbent Saenuri Party lawmakers who will not be given tickets to run in the election.

The claim re-ignited a factional strife between Assemblymen loyal to President Park Geun-hye and non-mainstreamers led by Kim. The list reportedly included non-mainstream lawmakers such as Yoo Seong-min, Lee Jae-oh and Chung as well as some Park loyalists.

As the controversy deepened, Kim denied Chung’s claims, Monday, saying there was a misunderstanding between them.

“I just talked about a rumor about who may not receive party tickets. Such a list does not exist,” Kim said. “As the party chairman, I sincerely apologize for worrying the people and party members.”

The apology came after the party’s decision-making Supreme Council convened a meeting to look into Chung’s claims and demand explanations from Kim.

Earlier in the day, Kim denied the existence of such a list during a party meeting, saying that he did not know about any list related to the nomination. But a group of lawmakers loyal to President Park stepped up a political offensive against Kim, who has been at odds with them.

After the meeting, the Supreme Council reached the conclusion that the list does not exist.

However, it noted that it was not appropriate for the party chairman to refer to an unconfirmed rumor about the sensitive nomination issue, and had Kim deliver an apology.

Rep. Suh Chung-won, a leading figure from the pro-Park faction, suggested that the party form a special committee to investigate the case during the meeting, but Rep. Kim Eul-dong opposed it, saying that the party should not be affected by a false rumor.

Following Chung’s claims, the pro-Park faction claimed that Kim was attempting to weaken the candidate nomination committee led by Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, a pro-Park lawmaker, by spreading the false rumor about the list, calling for his apology.

However, non-mainstreamers said that Park’s supporters were politically exploiting the issue for their benefit.