By Kim Se-jeong
Following the passing of a registration deadline Thursday, the Grand National Party finds itself with a seven-way fight for the party’s top post.
The seven are Reps. Nam Kyung-pil, Hong Joon-pyo, Kwon Young-se, Park Jin, Won Hee-ryong, Na Kyung-won and Yoo Seung-min. Among them will emerge a new party chairman at the July 4 national convention, who will lead the party into crucial elections next year.
The country will hold general election and presidential elections in April and December, respectively. One pronounced feature found among the seven is that they are all under 60, the youngest being Nam at 46, and their constituent bases are mainly in the Seoul metropolitan areas.
Party heavyweights, especially presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye, are not running as party regulations do not allow them to run for a party post 18 months ahead of a presidential election.
Many issues are at hand, and stances seem to be quite divergent on each one.
When it comes to cutting university tuition, candidates concurred that the current proposal of halving the fees is unfeasible. But solutions were different.
Hong criticized halving the tuition as “a political maneuver,” insisting the solution should be geared toward reducing fees for smart but underprivileged students. Na preferred a gradual cut to a one-off dramatic decrease, and linking it to reform of universities.
Regarding the North Korean human rights bill, three out of seven were in favor of it, insisting that it be passed during the June
extraordinary parliamentary session. Na and Yoo advocated the passage but gave no timeline.
The candidates also differed on demanding an official apology from North Korea as a precondition for any inter-Korean dialogue. Four candidates demanded an official apology from North Korea while Nam, Park and Kwon showed support for unconditional humanitarian aid.
The seven were also split over providing free lunches to school children and endorsing the Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement during the current National Assembly.