Moon, Park begin election fight for NPAD chairmanship

Moon Jae-in

By Jun Ji-hye

Reps. Moon Jae-in and Park Jie-won, the leading candidates standing for chairmanship of the main opposition party, are stepping up their election campaigns.

The New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) is planning to hold a national convention on Feb. 8 to select who will be its new leader.

Moon, a former presidential candidate, launched an attack against Park while declaring his bid, Monday.

“Park is a good person and very talented, but he has failed to change the party,” said Moon. “I have a bigger will and am more sincere about creating innovation in the NPAD. I am better at putting plans into practice.”

Park shot back Tuesday, saying Moon’s proposals to reform the party fell short of expectations.

“He made several suggestions while declaring his bid. But most of them were similar to those I have proposed so far,” said Park.

Moon’s proposals included conducting transparent nominations, resolving factional disputes and enhancing manpower to study democratic policies. He said he will turn the party into a brand new one through such measures, indicating that he will resign from politics if the party fails to achieve notable results in the 2016 general election.

Park’s argument was taken to mean a devaluation of measures made by Moon at cost to his political career.

The two have also collided over personal schedules. By coincidence or not, they are both set to climb Mount Mudeung in Gwangju at the same time on New Year’s Day.

Gwangju is traditional home turf of the liberal party.

Kim Yoo-jeong, Park’s spokeswoman, complained, “The Moon camp continues to copy our schedule.”

In response, Kim Ki-man, Moon’s spokesman, claimed, “We prepared for the climb for days. The fact that our schedules are the same is just coincidence.”

The competition between the two is also seen as a battle between supporters of late President Roh Moo-hyun and followers of late President Kim Dae-jung.

Moon served as chief of staff under the Roh government, while Park assumed the same position under the Kim administration.

Other than Moon and Park, Reps. Park Joo-sun, Lee In-young and Cho Kyoung-tae also declared their intentions to run at the national convention. The NPAD plans to conduct a primary on Jan. 7 to narrow the total number of candidates to three from five.

Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye