[Editorial] New normal

It is not uncommon for Korean political parties to undergo a power vacuum or leadership crisis. This often happens when party leaders step down in the wake of an election defeat or a major scandal.

An interim leadership -- usually termed an “emergency planning panel” -- takes over until party members choose new leaders. As the name suggests, such an abnormal situation should come about only rarely.

It seems, however, that this is not a rarity, but the norm for Korean parties: Currently, all three major political parties are run by stopgap leaderships, some of which -- in the case of for the Saenuri Party and The Minjoo Party of Korea -- are headed by outside figures. This clearly shows Korean parties lack sustainable governance systems. 

Factional strife is blamed for the current situation at both the ruling Saenuri and main opposition Minjoo Party, while the crisis in the third-largest People’s Party was prompted by the resignation of its paramount leader Ahn Cheol-soo in the aftermath of a corruption scandal.

It is none other than Ahn who had plunged the Minjoo Party into crisis, which resulted in the resignation of its leader Moon Jae-in in January. Ahn, accusing Moon and other members who were close to late President Roh Moo-hyun of hegemonic control of the party, left and created his own party.    

The Minjoo Party brought in Kim Chong-in, a former economic adviser for President Park Geun-hye, as its interim leader. Kim steered the party -- not without difficulty -- through the April 13 parliamentary election. The party plans to elect new leadership on Aug. 27, which means the nation’s main opposition party will have been drifting leaderless for about seven months. 

If the internal feud between Roh loyalists and Ahn’s group caused the split of the Minjoo Party, the crisis at the ruling Saenuri Party was driven by strife between mainstreamers loyal to President Park and minority faction members.

Their confrontation -- escalated by Park’s interference in the nominations of party candidates -- led the party to a devastating defeat in the April 13 general election, which forced party leader Kim Moo-sung to step down. 

But unlike the Minjoo Party which quickly brought in Kim, the Saenuri Party had difficulty reaching a consensus on its stopgap leadership. It was only in late May -- about 50 days after Kim Moo-sung’s resignation -- that the party appointed Kim Hee-ok, a former prosecutor who also once headed Dongguk University, as the head of its emergency plan panel.

At the People’s Party, floor leader Park Jie-won has taken over the interim leadership, but the party has yet to reach a consensus as to when and how it will elect a new leadership. In other words, the party will have to go through the same uncertainties the Saenuri Party and the Minjoo Party have been going through for months.  

It is not a pure coincidence that all of the three biggest parties are going through leadership crises. It shows the Korean political party system needs a more stable, sustainable governance scheme. 

Since the 20th National Assembly began early last month, major parties have been discussing reforms, such as curtailing lawmakers’ powers and privileges. They also need to think about how to reform the way political parties are run and how to minimize risks of instability and leadership crises.