War of words turns nasty at Saenuri

By Yi Whan-woo

In Myung-jin

Suh Chung-won

In Myung-jin, interim leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, and Rep. Suh Chung-won, a prominent loyalist of President Park Geun-hye, exchanged sharp barbs over In’s reform push, Thursday.

In earlier called on pro-Park figures to leave the party by Friday, saying their existence is hampering reform. This drew fierce backlash from Suh and other Park loyalists.

In said he is determined to quit the party if the pro-Park figures ignore his call and decide to stay.

During a meeting with the party members in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, Suh, the de-facto-leader of the pro-Park faction, criticized In as “a clergyman who spells death” on the ruling party.

Suh cited that In described the pro-Park factional members as “tumors” and that they should consider disemboweling themselves because of their responsibility for the impeachment of President Park and political chaos.

“A clergyman is responsible for protecting the people’s lives,” Suh said. “Yet, In may be the country’s only clergyman who asks for the death of legislators.”

He claimed that the party made a mistake in appointing In to chair the emergency committee Dec. 23, after deciding to recruit an outside figure to reform the party.

“We invited a clergyman because we did not want a lying politician and In has been spitting out rough words instead. We were seriously mistaken about recruiting In,” Suh said.

He also pointed out that In used an analogy between excrement and the aftermath of the departure of the anti-Park lawmakers from the Saenuri Party, Dec. 27.

On his way to his office early Thursday, In said he called the Saenuri Party “the church of Suh.”

“I’m a retired pastor and I shouldn’t be hanging around at a church any more,” he said.

Citing that Suh denounced him as a “false clergyman,” “liar,” and “dictator,” In said he regrets joining the party.

In was scheduled to have lunch with the party’s senior advisers, many of them Park loyalists, but it was cancelled.

The advisers said meeting In for the time being would “not be appropriate,” according to party officials.

The Saenuri Party sought to make a breakthrough after the anti-Park members left and created their own party.

Political sources, however, speculate that the internal struggle within the Saenuri Party is likely to deepen.

They pointed to the rift between Suh’s supporters and those supporting In’s reform efforts.