Lee Hoi-chang to Enter the Race for President

Former chairman of the Grand National Party (GNP) Lee Hoi-chang announced that he is withdrawing from the GNP and running for president as an independent candidate yesterday, saying, “I am convinced that this is the way I have to choose in order to re-establish this nation properly by replacing the left-wing regime and making up for Korea’s lost decade.”

Former GNP chairman Lee held a press conference on the same day at the Danam Building in Namdaemunno, Seoul, and said, “I heartily apologize to the people and beg their pardon for having to break the promise I made (five years ago). I’ll readily face all the criticism by my former party comrades.”

“With an attitude that disregards the importance of fundamentals or seeks to flatter the populace without principles, no one can recover the lost decade. Though it is important to have clear convictions and philosophies on national identity, the GNP and its candidate (Lee Myung-bak) have showed vague attitudes on this point,” he said, explaining how he came to the decision to run for president.

“Candidate Lee Myung-bak’s ambiguous view on North Korea and his intention to preserve the Sunshine Policy is a recipe for failure after North Korea’s nuclear test, which can neither prevent the advent of a nuclear disaster nor promote peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he added.

Meanwhile, responding to former GNP chairman Lee’s announcement on November 7 that he will withdraw from the GNP and run for president, the main opposition party launched an all-out attack on him, calling him ‘a destructor of democracy’ and ‘a patient afflicted by the presidency virus.’

Presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak met with journalists before attending a party gathering in Ulsan on the same day, and criticized [former chairman Lee], saying, “His announcement is a deviant action and rewinds history.”

On the same day, at an emergency meeting of the supreme council, party chairman Kang Jae-seop also criticized former chairman Lee, saying, “His decision is regrettable and the idea that his becoming president is the only way to realize the people’s wishes is a reflection of his presidency virus.’”

Ahead of this, 128 GNP legislators held a general meeting on the stairway in front of the National Assembly building in the morning on the same day and adopted a resolution denouncing former chairman Lee’s decision to run, and said, “If he is to run for president after damaging the culture of competitive elections and democracy, and betraying his promise to the people that he would leave politics, he lacks principles and the justification to do so.”

Because former chairman Lee has decided to run for president, the GNP plans to focus its attack on his Achilles´ heels one after another, including the suspicions surrounding the balance of the funds raised for the 2002 presidential election and his former promise to stay away from politics.

Meanwhile, United New Democratic Party presidential candidate Chung Dong-young, at a debate hosted by the Gwanhun Club, a fraternity of senior journalists, at the Korea Press Center in Taepyeongno, Jung-gu, Seoul, on the same day, criticized former GNP chairman Lee’s decision to run, saying, “It is a deviation from the socially accepted idea of formality and common sense, and is an affront to our democracy.”

In a regular briefing, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Cheon Ho-seon also made a harsh denunciation, saying, “Since former chairman Lee’s failures in two previous elections were a result of moral judgment, his decision to run is an action that neglects and insults the people.”

ddr@donga.com taylor55@donga.com