Nobody in pro-Roh faction wants to sacrifice, say sources from Moon Jae-in

“Nobody in the pro-Roh (pro-Roh Moo-hyun) faction is interested in not running for the election. It’s doubtful that they really work for the chairman of the party," sources of Chairman Moon Jae-in of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) cried out on Friday. In an effort to tackle the internal strife, Moon has come up with an idea that the pro-Roh faction would not run for the election but the faction, the actual alliance for the party, is keeping silence on the idea.

In fact, Moon began persuading the pro-Roh faction not to run for the election even before forming an “early election committee” was suggested. Close aides outside of the party mainstream such as Yang Jeong-cheol, former senior presidential secretary for public relations, made requests to key figures in the pro-Roh faction, such as lawmakers Roh Young-min, Hong Young-pyo, Jeon Hae-cheol and Yun Ho-jung to “make decisions” to no avail. Sources from Moon grumble that no one want to listen to the idea, while a high-ranking NPAD lawmaker said that this could be the reason why Moon said the pro-Roh faction does not exist.

It is said that Moon is pushed to become more and more isolated within the party. Those who once used to be favorable to him are now pushing Moon to step down.

Moon went to Busan on Thursday, prior to Christmas holidays. It has been 10 days since Dec. 14 when Ahn visited there after he quit the party. Moon is known to seek for countermeasures against pressure to leave the party while traveling Busan and Yangsan in South Gyeongsang Province where his home is located. “Once a discussion of lawmakers from metropolitan areas and higher posts is over on Monday, pending issues could be tackled,” sources from Moon said.

alwaysj@donga.com