Ruling Party Satisfied with Some Election Results

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Ruling Party Satisfied with Some Election Results

On the morning of April 14, a high-level ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) official said, "Although our party did not become a majority party, there are some results that make us feel at ease, as if a cavity has been removed."

What he refered to was the defeat of Lee Shin-bom (Kangso-ul of Seoul) and Lee Sa-chul (Wonm-ul of Puchon), both from the Grand National Party (GNP), and who were known as "Kim Tae-chung's assassins."

Lee Shin-bom lost to Kim Sung-ho of the MDP, while Lee Sa-chul, notorious for his virulent tongue, was pushed aside by Pae Ki-son of the MDP, who locked horns with Lee for the second time.

Lee Shin-bom campaigned using a series of harassing exposures from confidants from Chong Wa Dae and Tonggyo-dong, President Kim Dae-jung's former residence, and the MDP put him on their "strike" list. Lee Sa-chul was ahead in the polls, but since the Citizens' Alliance for the 2000 General Elections (CAGE) blacklisted him, he lost steam and was defeated by 8,000 votes.

On the other hand, another Kim Dae-jung critic Chung Hyung-keun (Puk Kangso-kap of Pusan) won with 76.5 percent of the votes, the 10th highest rate in all the districts and the second best for the GNP, showing his popularity.

In addition, Lee Bu-young (Kangdong-kap, Seoul), Kim Moon-su (Puchon Sosa), and Kim Hong-shin (proportional representation), all GNP offensive spearheads, survived the battle. They are expected to stand at the forefront in attacking the ruling circles.

On a different note, all three heads of the parties' candidate screening panels lost: Chang Eul-byung (Tonghae-Samchok) of the MDP, Yang Jung-kyu (North Cheju) of the GNP, and Lee Taek-suk of the United Liberal Democrats. They wielded immense power in the candidate screening process, but they ended up being losers themselves.




by Kim Jung-ha

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