By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Pro-government presidential hopefuls flocked to the southwestern Jeolla provinces Friday and called on liberal groups to join forces to create an anti-Grand National Party (GNP) coalition ahead of December's presidential election.
During the inaugural convention for a local branch of the pro-government camp, they stressed the need to launch the coalition at an early date to defeat the main opposition GNP, which enjoys large popularity. They included former Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu; former Chairman Chung Dong-young of the pro-government Uri Party; and former Prime Ministers Lee Hae-chan and Han Myeong-sook.
Sohn, who bolted from the GNP in March, criticized the GNP for being too conservative and said that it has the wrong perception of history.
Chung insisted the GNP's win would set the nation back, mentioning scandals allegedly involving its two front-runners, former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak and former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye.
Rumors have it that Lee speculated in real estate and Park is allegedly implicated in wrongdoings including tax evasion while serving as chief director at Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation, established by her late father, former President Park Chung-hee.
Meanwhile, the pro-government camp, which consists of Uri deserters and defectors from the Centrist United Democratic Party (CUDP), is gearing up to create a new party by establishing a provincial branch in North Jeolla Province Friday.
A day earlier, the camp formed another branch in Seoul vowing to achieve a coalition of liberal forces.
The upstart organization is trying to induce more people to join it by setting up more provincial branches in the run-up to the Dec. 19 presidential election.
It is scheduled to create a branch in Gyeonggi Province, Saturday.
The move, however, already has several hurdles ahead to get to the presidential race.
Lawmakers and members of civic groups are feuding over power sharing. They are trying to set their people on major positions in the new party, sources said.
It remains unclear whether the pro-government camp can persuade the CUDP to take part in the coalition. The CUDP is strongly supported by the Jeolla region.
Co-Chairman Park Sang-cheon of the CUDP has refused to join the coalition.
Park said the alliance would be a successor of the embattled Uri Party, which will lead them to an unsuccessful run in the crucial race.
However, consecutive exodus' of CUDP lawmakers and former President Kim Dae-jung, who urged the party to join the coalition, has cornered Park.
According to the Korea Society Opinion Institute Tuesday, Lee topped the survey with 36.1 percent of approval ratings while Park Geun-hye trailed him with 27.5 percent.
Sohn Hak-kyun and Chung Dong-young placed third and fourth with 6.9 and 3.2 percent, respectively.
Other pro-government hopefuls gained only single-digit support.