By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Political bigwigs who were forced to resign last year for the sake of their parties' best interests are eyeing the Oct. 28 by-elections to attempt comebacks to the National Assembly.
Park Hee-tae, chairman of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), is known to be seriously considering a bid to run in the election in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province.
Opponents inside the GNP, however, question whether Park can win the crucial seat ― views that pose a challenge to Park in his bid to run on the party's ticket.
Park, 71, was eliminated from the selection of candidates to run in the National Assembly elections last year reportedly due to his age.
The selections were dominated by junior reformists, such as Chung Doo-un, who were on bad terms with senior moderates like Park and who called for overhauling the ruling party to make it more responsive to the public.
The main opposition Democratic Party is hoping Moon Jae-in, presidential chief of staff under former President Roh Moo-hyun, will run against Park.
DP strategists say Moon is not interested in the job but the party will continue to try to convince him to run in the election for the sake of the party.
Although the Yangsan district is a stronghold of the conservative GNP and former GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye is very popular there, campaign watchers say the race will be a dead heat if Moon declares a bid on the DP's side.
The liberal DP's popularity soared after Roh committed suicide in May.
Public surveys found many people believed the former President was a victim of political retaliation and that this belief drove up the DP's popularity.
Campaign watchers say former GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sup is also interested in running in the by-election in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.
Kang resigned his candidacy in the 2008 parliamentary elections to take responsibility after his fellow GNP lawmakers accused him of failing to manage candidate selections properly.
The former GNP leader is considering running if the Supreme Court orders a by-election in the district.
Sources say former DP Chairman Sohn Hak-kyu has expressed an interest in the same district. He served as Gyeonggi governor prior to joining the DP.
Sohn ran unsuccessfully in the Jongno district in the 2008 elections.
His running in the tough district was portrayed as a sacrifice because he chose the battleground district instead of his home turf in Gyeonggi.
So far, it has been confirmed that three electoral districts ― Ansan in Gyeonggi Province, Yangsan in South Gyeongsang Province and Gangneung in Gangwon Province ― will hold by-elections.
Depending on Supreme Court's rulings in the near future, two or three more constituencies, including Eunpyeong in Seoul and Suwon in Gyeonggi Province, may be added to the list.