YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) Ruling party rocked as nomination row escalates

   SEOUL, March 14 (Yonhap) -- Ongoing tension within South Korea's ruling party climaxed Friday as incumbent lawmakers deprived of the party's ticket in upcoming parliamentary elections threatened to bolt and run as independents.

   In a bid to renew its election lineup by introducing as many new faces as possible, the Grand National Party (GNP) has dropped 25 incumbent lawmakers from the list of candidates for its home turf, Gyeongsang Provinces.

   The move to drop almost half of the sitting lawmakers in the region has fueled anger in a faction led by former Chairwoman Park Geun-hye, which asserts that it has been made a target of political revenge by backers of President Lee Myung-bak.

   "I leave my heart at the GNP, but my body leaves the party from this moment," Rep. Kim Moo-sung, a key supporter of Park, said in a press conference Friday. "Some selfish members are ruining the party that I love with irrational nomination criteria that no one can approve of. This is an evident move to eliminate the Park faction before it grows to grasp power in the party."
Kim is among the 10 pro-Park lawmakers who were let go.

   Kim also openly accused President Lee of peddling influence in the nomination, asserting that the party had asked for Cheong Wa Dae's approval of the nomination list after screening the candidates in secret.

   "It is ridiculous for the presidential office to peddle influence in the process when the powers of the president and the party should be clearly divided," he said.

   Other pro-Park lawmakers including Reps. Yoo Ki-joon and Lee In-ki are expected to follow suit after discussing their future course of action with Park.

   Some party insiders are concerned that the angry Park supporters may push for a party split, threatening the GNP's goal of grabbing a majority in the 299 National Assembly seats. But with the elections now less than a month away, such chances appear slim.

   Those dropped also include 12 incumbents close to Lee including senior lawmaker Park Hee-tae. The remaining three are known to be neutral.

   The tension is the latest in the struggle for control of the party between backers of Park and President Lee, to whom Park lost the party's ticket to run in the December presidential election.

   With the nomination process moving slow due to mounting protests from unsuccessful hopefuls, the GNP has thus far picked 224 of a total of 245 candidates. Among them, 145 Lee loyalists have secured the party's ticket to the 42 of Park's.

   The party's nominating committee denies accusations that it "played favorites."
"How could the Park faction use the term 'massacre'?" asked committee chairman Ahn Kang-min. "We deliberated over the candidates fairly, also dropping about many members of the Lee faction. I do not understand what all the fuss is about."
The intensifying feud has been threatening the GNP's chances in the April parliamentary elections although it is still widely expected to win a majority, backed by its landslide win in last year's presidential election.

   hayney@yna.co.kr
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