3 MDP officials set to quit

Turmoil within the Millennium Democratic Party deepened Friday as several top party officials threatened to resign.

The officials, Kim Won-gil, the party's secretary-general; Park Byung-yoon, chief policy maker, and Jong Bum-goo, the party spokesman, criticized the party's Supreme Council Thursday after an in-house panel, the Jungdo Reform Forum, asked all 12 members of the council to resign.

"We have no choice but to leave our party duties if the Supreme Council does not respond appropriately to the situation," Mr. Park said, referring to the strife that has beset the party since its defeat in the June 13 local elections. He said the council is only concerned with defending its members' vested interests.

"The party's leadership is incapable of making a decision," said Mr. Jung. "I have submitted a letter of resignation to party Chairman Hahn Hwa-kap as it is impossible to act with conviction under this system."

Mr. Kim was less enthusiastic on the outcome. He said his resignation could not make up for the party's devastating defeat in the local elections, but he said he felt sorry for his colleagues.

Political observers said party mainstreamers, who back Hahn's leadership and Roh Moo-hyun as the party's presidential candidate, are trying to restructure the party for the Aug. 8 National Assembly by-elections.

The party leadership have struggled to deal with the devastating local election defeat but affirmed the presidential nomination of Mr. Roh and the positions of the 12 Supreme Council members.

Pundits speculated that mainstreamers want to create an emergency panel for the presidential elections that would replace the Supreme Council and exercise full control over party personnel and financial affairs.

The move would effectively block those within the party who the mainstreamers say are trying to undermine Mr. Roh's candidacy.

Mr. Hahn said that the Supreme Council would meet Monday to decide whether to accept the resignations. He denied having been informed in advance of their actions.

by Song Sang-hoon, Kang Min-seok