hankyoreh

The chairman of South Korea's ruling Grand National Party said Sunday that he will not stand for parliament in the upcoming National Assembly elections in a bid to end an escalating internecine dispute over candidate nominations.

Kang Jae-sup said in a hurriedly arranged news conference that he will be ready to give up his seat in order to help his party win a sweeping victory in the April 9 general election. "I decided not to run in the upcoming general election to help pave the way for the victory of my party," Kang said.

Kang's remarks came amid a growing dispute over "heavyweight" dropouts in party nominations, most of whom had backed President Lee Myung-bak's political rival, former GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye, in the party's presidential primary last year.

Earlier in the day, Park told a news conference that she, as well as the entire nation, was deceived by the GNP leadership.

Park then declared that she has no plan to campaign for the party's nominees in upcoming parliamentary elections, in protest at the recent elimination of many of her followers from the party's candidate list.

The GNP has dropped almost half the lawmakers sitting in its home turf Gyeongsang provinces from its list of nominees for the elections, in a bid to introduce as many new faces as possible.

The move has angered a faction led by Park, which asserts that it has been made a target of political revenge by ardent supporters of President Lee.

"I have no plan to make an electioneering tour for the nominees," said Park who still wields enormous popularity in Gyeongsang and Chungcheong provinces.

Also on Sunday, a group of some 20 party candidates in Seoul and neighboring Incheon City and Gyeonggi Province demanded a public apology from Lee and the party leadership for the nomination feud.

"We advise the party leadership and President Lee to look back on the past few months after the (December) presidential election and try to win the public hearts again," the candidates said in a joint statement.

The intensifying feud has threatened the GNP's chances in the general elections although it is still widely expected to win a majority, backed by its landslide win in last year's presidential election.

The sense of crisis has further heightened, as most of Park's followers determined to run as an independent candidate in their respective district turned out to be ahead of their GNP rivals in pre-election polls.

Adding to the confusion, Kim Deog-ryong, a senior party leader formerly known as a supporter of Lee, also declared that he will not run in the general election and demanded that the president's elder brother, Lee Sang-deuk, voluntarily give up his nomination to rescue the party from the crisis.

A large number of Park's supporters failed to win nominations for reasons of "old age," but the 73-year-old Lee Sang-deuk, who has served as vice speaker of the Assembly, easily won his nomination in spite of a controversy over his senility. Kim, a five-term lawmaker, supported Lee Myung-bak during the presidential campaign, but was disqualified from the party's nominations for the general elections for "unclear" reasons.

"The people have been disappointed by the GNP's nominations, as well as by President Lee's management of state affairs and appointment of controversial figures (as Cabinet ministers).

Serious confusion lies ahead, unless the situation is changed," Kim said in a press statement.

"The GNP is now in a state of crisis. In order for the GNP to regain public confidence, the president's elder brother, Lee Sang-deuk, has to give up his nomination," said the lawmaker.

Commenting on the intensifying intra-party conflict, the president office Cheong Wa Dae said Kang's decision to give up his candidacy would pave the ground for reconciliation of the party.

"We understand Kang's agony behind his decision not to run for parliament," said Cheong Wa Dae in a brief message. But the presidential office refused to touch on the nomination dispute surrounding Lee Sang-deuk.

Shortly after Kang's news conference, President Lee called the GNP chairman to persuade him to reconsider his decision to give up his party nomination. But Kang was heard on the phone telling the president,"Did you watch the news. I've already made the announcement. I'm determined to quit to help the party's smooth start."

Meanwhile, President Lee and Kang are scheduled to discuss measures to cope with the GNP's nomination crisis during their first weekly meeting on Tuesday.