hankyoreh

By Seong Yeon-cheol

Comments by lawmakers have caused scorn among members of the ruling Grand National Party's Park Geun-hye wing. Former party chairman Hong Joon-pyo and lawmaker Won Hee-ryong have said that the party's 2007 leadership contest was dominated by large sums of illicit money.

Pro-Park lawmakers said they suspected ulterior motives in Hong and Won's remarks.

Speaking in a Buddhist Broadcasting System radio interview Wednesday, GNP emergency countermeasures committee member Kim Jong-in said, "I think it was rash for someone who has served as chairman to make such a remark without any clear evidence."

A second-term lawmaker from the Seoul area said the remarks were "fully intended to smear Park Geun-hye as chairwoman of the emergency countermeasures committee."

Members of the Park wing commented that Hong and Won's comments were targeted more at Park than President Lee Myung-bak, Park’s opponent in the 2007 contest. When asked by reporters about "money envelopes" during the 2007 leadership contest, a noticeably displeased Park said, "I don't really think that's something we need to talk about."

But even members of the Park camp raised the possibility of money and/or gifts being passed out during the contest. Speaking in an SBS radio interview, lawmaker Lee Kyeong-jae said, "I think there certainly is a possibility of that, and I've heard stories to that effect. In particular, I've heard quite a lot about large sums being distributed to outside chairs out in the tougher areas, but I've never had any direct experiences with that."

Another pro-Park lawmaker from the Yeongnam region said, "Back then, that was the practice and the culture."

"Didn't everybody do it?" the lawmaker added. "They just didn't have any guilt about it."

Signs of an attempt to minimize the repercussions of Hong and Won's statements were evident in the Park wing. If the "money" election controversy goes back to the race for the presidential nomination five years ago, then there is a strong likelihood that Park herself would be the biggest victim.

After allegations of money handouts were made among insiders on the 2007 race involving Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, some GNP observers called it "the end of the party."

Lawmaker Chung Doo-un Tweeted Wednesday, "The GNP seems to be heading for a battle of everyone against everyone else. It's all evidence that it's done."

A second-term lawmaker from the Yeongnam region said, "They only fire at their own forces."

"I can't tell if this is actually a party with a general election coming up in three months," the lawmaker added.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]