MDP Plans Sweeping Reshuffle of Party Leadership

On August 28, Chong Wa Dae and the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) began to take countermeasures, including a sweeping reshuffle of the MDP leadership, against mounting suspicions of MDP intervention and obstruction of the investigation of April 13 general election campaign funds.

A high-ranking official of the ruling party said, "The remark in question by MDP Vice Secretary General Yoon Chul-sang was just a slip of the tongue. However, as the remark has raised public concerns, the state administration plan for the second half of President Kim Dae-jung's term has suffered a setback."

The official said, "All the MDP executives, including Acting President Suh Young-hoon and Secretary General Kim Ok-doo, are expected to submit their resignations to President Kim Dae-jung, the leader of the MDP, directly after the MDP supreme council members are elected at the party convention on August 30."

MDP Chairman Suh Young-hoon said, "If the resignation of the party leadership is suggested, I will ask President Kim Dae-jung not to hesitate about me," hinting that he is ready to accept a call for his resignation.

On the afternoon of August 28, MDP executives, including Chairman Suh and Secretary General Kim, visited Chong Wa Dae to report the controversy over the suspicions and the progress of preparations for the MDP convention, to President Kim.

Meanwhile, antagonism between the ruling and the opposition party is growing more serious. Lee Hoi-chang, president of the opposition Grand National Party (GNP), insisted, "President Kim himself should fully reveal the story about these suspicions."

However, the MDP rejected the GNP's demands for a public apology by President Kim and a parliamentary inspection, regarding the GNP's assertions only as political offenses.

GNP President Lee said, "It should be revealed how the ruling party communicated secretly with the Prosecutor's Office and the National Election Commission (NEC) and how it reduced or covered up its violations of election laws. The MDP executives, the prosecutors, and the NEC officials involved should be dismissed and punished under the law."

The GNP sent a letter with its demands to chief presidential secretary Han Kwang-ok.

by Lee yang-soo