Chung said to weigh forming own party

Independent lawmaker Chung Mong-joon hinted strongly Monday that he would organize an independent political party next month to support his expected bid for the presidency.

His plan is to put together a negotiation group of more than 20 representatives gathered from existing parties, sources said. He reportedly hopes to get the party started before September's Chuseok holiday.

Such a plan differs from the plans for a new party composed of elements of the Millennium Democrats and other independent figures, with or without merging with the small United Liberal Democrats.

Sources close to Mr. Chung say he has repeatedly asserted that "a revolutionary change is what the people are expecting from this presidential election, and I must see to it that their hopes are realized." They added that Mr. Chung has criticized plans to create a party around Rhee In-je, currently still a Millennium Democrat, or Lee Han-dong, a former prime minister without party affiliation. Other sources, however, said that meetings were possible with Mr. Rhee, Mr. Lee, the United Liberal Democrats' leader Kim Jong-pil or Representative Park Geun-hye, chairman of the Korean Coalition for the Future.

Publicly, Mr. Chung said only, "A new party organization is an issue of the MDP, and it isn't appropriate for me to answer."

by Chun Young-gi, Rah Hyun-cheol