MDP sets vote on Roh nomination

Millennium Democratic Party officials on Tuesday tentatively agreed to seek a confidence vote Wednesday on the party's presidential nominee, Roh Moo-hyun.

The decision came on the second day of an extended meeting of senior party officials in the wake of the resounding defeat in Thursday's local elections. The decision mandates that some 100 party office holders cast votes at a meeting Wednesday on whether to stick with Mr. Roh.

"We will also put a confidence vote on the leadership of Chairman Hahn Hwa-kap and other Supreme Council members," said Jung Bum-goo, the party spokesman.

Top Millennium Democrats also accepted Mr. Roh's proposal to hold another round of primaries if the governing Millennium Democratic Party fails to regain some electoral ground in the Aug. 8 by-elections. Mr. Roh won the nomination in a series of primary elections organized by the party in March and April. The party further decided to set up a special by-election task force and a special committee to analyze the causes of Thursday's defeat and to redefine the party ahead of the Dec. 19 presidential election.

In a survey published by the JoongAng Ilbo, 1,072 voters were asked why they thought the Grand National Party had trounced the Millennium Democrats last week. In reply, 76.4 percent attributed it to the financial scandals tainting the administration. Two of the sons of President Kim Dae-jung, founder of the party, are alleged protagonists in the scandals.

About 11.5 percent of the poll respondents named the worsening image of Mr. Roh and the party; only 8.4 percent replied that they thought the Grand National Party and its leader Lee Hoi-chang had become more popular.

The Aug. 8 by-elections will fill at least 10 and possibly 14 empty seats in the National Assembly. The open seats span electoral constituencies from Seoul and Gyeonggi province to the southwestern Jeolla provinces and southeastern Gyeongsang provinces. With such a regional distribution, election experts said, the by-elections may serve as a reliable gauge of public sentiment ahead of the presidential election.

With that weathervane election coming up, party sources said they expected Mr. Roh to keep his nomination for now. Anti-Roh forces in the party nevertheless continued to call on him to give up the nomination. The party lost all major posts in the South Gyeongsang region where Mr. Roh had expected to find support.

Among those expected to eye the nomination if Mr. Roh loses it are Rhee In-je, who was defeated by Mr. Roh in the spring primaries, and two nonmembers of the party, Chung Mong-joon, an independent, and Representative Park Geun-hye of the Korean Coalition for the Future.

by Song Sang-hoon