Rival parties wrestle with potential defections, leadership void

South Korea's rival parties were scrambling to deal with increasing uncertainty sparked by a series of unforeseen events tied to next year’s general election, as of Thursday.

Former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea and ex-Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon’s announcement on Wednesday saying he will establish a new political party of his own has emerged as a major hurdle for both the ruling and the main opposition party lawmakers.

Lee, an influential lawmaker, said in Wednesday’s TV interview that he envisions a party that could become No. 1 in the National Assembly with an independent spirit. His new party would not align its goals or join forces with the ruling People Power Party or the Democratic Party, Lee explained.

In a radio interview with KBS on Thursday, Lee mentioned the strong possibility of partnering up with Yang Hyang-ja, leader of the minor progressive Hope of Korea party and a former chip technician at Samsung Electronics, and Keum Tae-sup, a former Democratic Party lawmaker.

The former prime minister has previously cited current Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung’s monopolization of power within the main opposition party as a key reason behind his lack of support for his former party.

Lee Nak-yon’s latest announcement has knocked several Democratic Party lawmakers off-kilter, with many apparently fearing a loss of voters.

Rep. Lee Gae-ho, the main opposition party’s top policymaker, criticized the ex-prime minister’s decision via Facebook on Thursday. “This is a time for (the progressive lawmakers) to stick together around the Democratic Party,” his post read, implying that it was not the right time to launch a new party.

The Democratic Party is projected to deal with a wider intra-party rift following Lee Nak-yon’s latest move, with a group of lawmakers within the main opposition party on Thursday officially issuing an ultimatum against Lee Jae-myung to step down.

“(The Democratic Party) must carry out intra-party reform to stop the political power from shifting towards the new parties,” Rep. Yoon Young-chan told reporters, following a briefing hosted by him and fellow “anti-Lee Jae-myung” lawmakers Rep. Kim Jong-min, Rep. Lee Won-wook and Rep. Cho Eung-cheon.

On the other side of the political sphere, the People Power Party is making efforts to come up with emergency resolutions to replace Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, who resigned from his party leadership position on Wednesday. Kim stepped down as party leader in a surprise move, a day after his fellow conservative party bigwig announced to refrain from running in April’s general election. Both moves were interpreted as an effort to support intra-party reform to win back voter trust.

To deal with the current leadership vacancy, the party’s floor leader Rep. Yun Jae-ok on Thursday said that the party will adopt an emergency leadership committee system until further notice. He added that he is seeking potential candidates to lead the emergency committee.

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, the now-disbanded People Power Party reform committee chairman, alongside party outsider Ihn Yohan and Kim Han-gil, a veteran politician and the head of the presidential committee on national unity, were rumored as potential candidates to lead the committee as of Thursday.

South Korea's rival parties were scrambling to deal with increasing uncertainty sparked by a series of unforeseen events tied to next year’s general election, as of Thursday.

Former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea and ex-Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon’s announcement on Wednesday saying he will establish a new political party of his own has emerged as a major hurdle for both the ruling and the main opposition party lawmakers.

Lee, an influential lawmaker, said in a TV interview Wednesday that he envisions a party that could become No. 1 in the National Assembly with an independent spirit. His new party would not align its goals or join forces with the ruling People Power Party or the Democratic Party, Lee explained.

In a radio interview with KBS on Thursday, Lee mentioned the strong possibility of partnering up with Yang Hyang-ja, leader of the minor opposition Hope of Korea party and a former chip technician at Samsung Electronics, and Keum Tae-sup, a former Democratic Party lawmaker.

The former prime minister has previously said that current Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is monopolizing power within the main opposition party and that is the key reason behind his lack of support for his former party.

Lee Nak-yon’s latest announcement has knocked several Democratic Party lawmakers off-kilter, with many apparently fearing a loss of voters.

Rep. Lee Gae-ho, the main opposition party’s top policymaker, criticized the ex-prime minister’s decision via Facebook on Thursday. “This is a time for (the progressive lawmakers) to stick together around the Democratic Party,” his post read, implying that it is not the right time to launch a new party.

Some project that the Democratic Party will face a wider intra-party rift following Lee Nak-yon’s latest move, with a group of lawmakers within the main opposition party on Thursday officially issuing an ultimatum against Lee Jae-myung to step down.

“(The Democratic Party) must carry out intra-party reform to stop the political power from shifting towards the new parties,” Rep. Yoon Young-chan told reporters, following a briefing hosted by him and fellow “anti-Lee Jae-myung” lawmakers Rep. Kim Jong-min, Rep. Lee Won-wook and Rep. Cho Eung-cheon.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the conservative ruling People Power Party is making efforts to come up with emergency resolutions to replace Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, who resigned from his position as party chair on Wednesday. Kim stepped down as party leader in a surprise move, a day after his fellow conservative party bigwig and Yoon confidant Chang Je-won announced he will refrain from running in April’s general election. Both moves were interpreted as an effort to support intra-party reform in an attempt to win back voter trust.

To deal with the current leadership vacancy, the party’s floor leader, Rep. Yun Jae-ok, on Thursday said that the party will adopt an emergency leadership committee system until further notice. He added that he is seeking potential candidates to lead the emergency committee.

Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, now-disbanded People Power Party reform committee chair and party outsider Ihn Yohan and Kim Han-gil, a veteran politician and the head of the presidential committee on national unity, were rumored as potential candidates to lead the emergency committee as of Thursday.