Party faction split, but for how long?

The Donggyo-dong faction, loyalist followers of President Kim Dae-jung accused of exerting heavy-handed control over the affairs of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, is reconciling.

Implications of the gathering of the ruling party's largest faction is obscure at the moment, and the faction members themselves are saying that it is their custom to get together at the end of the year.

But Kim Ok-doo, the party's former secretary-general, suggested that he is mediating a meeting of old-guard Donggyo-dong members under the leadership of Kwon Roh-kap and younger members of the faction under the leadership of Representative Hahn Hwa-kap.

The two have been at odds since Mr. Hahn showed up the elder Mr. Kwon, garnering the most supporters at the party convention in August 2000. As competition has heated up for the party presidential nomination, the rift has widened. Mr. Hahn has announced his candidacy for the nomination, while Mr. Kwon is known to support Representative Rhee In-je in the race.

While both sides have yet to set a date for a meeting, Millennium Democrats caught between the factions-within-a-faction are working to bring the two groups together. Representatives Choi Jae-seung and Yoon Chul-sang have argued that the Donggyo-dong faction must unite if the party is to retake the Blue House in the December 2002 presidential election.

But the two leaders have a lot to work out for that to happen. Mr. Hahn recently said his political path and Mr. Kwon's are diverging, a remark that reportedly left Mr. Kwon smarting. Mr. Hahn also believes he is being outflanked by Mr. Kwon's group in the ongoing discussions to reshape the party leadership.

by Lee Yang-soo