GNP head defends decision

Lee Hoi-chang, leader of the main opposition Grand National Party, on Wednesday stood by his decision to reject calls by some members of the party to step aside as party leader.

"I thought long and hard before I made the decision, but I put party unity above all else. Party unity is something that I've felt strongly about since the 1997 presidential election," said Mr. Lee, the party's most likely candidate in the December presidential election.

His decision to hand over the day-to-day functions of the party presidency if he wins the party's presidential nomination did nothing to assuage his critics, fellow party members who have challenged his near monopoly on party policy. Lee Bu-young, one of the GNP's vice presidents, quit his post Wednesday.Representatives Kim Deog-ryong and Hong Sa-duk, both vocal opponents of Mr. Lee, are expected to decide soon whether to stay with the party or not.

The opposition party was thrust into turmoil when a challenger to Mr. Lee's hold on the party, Representative Park Geun-hye, bolted on Feb. 27. Since then Ms. Park has met with a wide array of political figures, including former President Kim Young-sam. Based on here flurry of activity, observers say that a new political party to challenge both the opposition and the ruling Millennium Democratic Party is in the making.

Other party members caught in the middle of the conflict between Mr. Lee's core group and his critics reluctantly accepted his decision.

But many also expressed concern about Mr. Lee's rapidly declining popularity against the ruling party's presidential candidates. Roh Moo-hyun, the ruling party's dark horse candidate, has made particularly notable gains against Mr. Lee in opinion polls recently, overtaking the opposition in two major voter surveys.

A survey conducted Sunday and Monday by Korean Broadcasting System and Hankook Research, a local pollster, showed Mr. Roh taking 44.7 percent of the votes compared to 40.9 percent for Mr. Lee in a two-way race.

A JoongAng Ilbo poll conducted Tuesday showed Mr. Roh leading with 55 percent of the votes compared to Mr. Lee's 33.6 percent.

"Should Mr. Lee's popularity continue to decline, the party may start to look for an alternative candidate for its presidential ticket," a party official said on condition of anonymity.

by Ko Jung-ae