Moon, Kim vie for MPK leadership
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Moon Jae-in, ex-chairman of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK), pays tribute to the victims of the Sewol accident at Paengmok Harbor, Jindo, South Jeolla Province, Tuesday. / Yonhap
By Kim Hyo-jin
After achieving success in last week’s general election, the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) is facing a new challenge.
MPK ex-chairman Moon Jae-in and its interim leader Kim Chong-in are emerging as favorites for the party’s new leader who will be tasked with steering it into next year’s presidential race.
In the worst case scenario, Moon and Kim may collide over the party leadership, observers said Tuesday.
After the general election, Kim extended his interim leadership by forming an emergency planning committee with party members close to him. He also hinted at the possibility of retaining his position until the 2017 presidential election, saying “If the party wants it, I will stay.”
This position brought a backlash from Moon loyalists. They have been disgruntled with Kim’s potential abuse of power even during the election when he was recruited as temporary leader of the bewildered party by Moon.
Amid simmering conflicts, speculation is mounting that Moon, the de-facto leader of the party mainstreamers, and Kim, who gained power after a stellar performance in the election, can’t avoid wrangling over who will take control of the party.
“The power game will heat up, as the party convention to elect a new chairman approaches,” said Choi Chang-ryol, a professor at Yongin University.
“While Kim appears to have the intention to promote himself as party leader, Moon must be looking for one of his close aides to lead the party while he seeks a presidential bid; this will fuel conflict between the two.”
He added a factional rift will be visible between the followers of each.
“Those loyal to the legacy of the late President Roh Moo-hyun have had a tighter grip on the party, but those nominated under Kim won quite a lot of seats in the elections, which will lead to an unavoidable collision over the party leadership between the two groups.”
Hwang Tae-soon, a political analyst at the Wisdom Center, agreed, saying Kim will be challenged by Moon’s confidants who are unsure whether he will support Moon’s presidential bid.
“For about the past three months, the MPK has been led by Kim whose conservative ideological tendencies differ from that of the party,” he said. “Roh or Moon followers must doubt if Kim will be a helpful partner for Moon in the remaining 22 months before the presidential election.”
Kim dismissed the possibility of running to be the new chairman in the party convention slated for May but answered ambiguously whether he would run if the party specifically asked him too during a media interview, Sunday.
The remarks caused an immediate backlash, dividing the party into those who welcome Kim prolonging his chairmanship and those who are against it.
“The interim leadership of Kim helped the party to emerge triumphant in the election,” said Kang Byung-won, an MPK lawmaker-elect who routed the ruling party’s veteran lawmaker Lee Jae-oh. “The current leadership structure should continue and help unite the party to change the government in the upcoming presidential vote.”
However, Jung Cheong-rae, a notable Roh loyalist and Moon’s close confidant, denounced Kim, saying “putting forward a chairman without competition could be only possible in somewhere like North Korea.”
“I don’t think he was our savior. At the time when he joined the party, internal feuds had subsided after a mass exodus of disgruntled lawmakers,” he said. “I believe our victory was possible even without his participation.”
Kim Young-choon, another lawmaker-elect, defended Kim, saying that the intra-party conflict is being exacerbated by some hardliners.
“Kim’s remark shouldn’t be interpreted as him seeking party support for the position,” he said. “If there are multiple candidates, the competition to elect a new leader will be inevitable anyway, according to party regulations.”
Lee Hae-chan, a veteran lawmaker who won a seat in Sejong, submitted a document to rejoin the party Tuesday, heralding further factional conflict.
Lee, a representative Roh follower, ran as an independent candidate in the election after he was excluded from the nominations by Kim.