GNP completes leadership team

The Grand National Party completed reshaping its leadership yesterday. Representative Hong Sa-duk was elected as the opposition party’s new floor leader; and Representative Lee Kang-too was elected as its chief policymaker.
Together with the recently elected chairman Choe Byung-yul, the Grand National Party’s leadership touted itself as standing on a foundation of stability and expertise. Representative Choe is a four-term lawmaker; Representative Hong is re-elected for the fifth time, and Representative Lee for the third time.
In the voting for floor leader, 145 out of the 152 opposition party lawmakers participated. On the first ballot, none of the candidates won a majority, necessitating a second vote. After winning 52 votes in the first round, Representative Hong secured 82 votes in the final round, winning the floor leader position.
The election of chief policymaker followed. Of the 255 lawmakers and heads of constituency chapters, 230 attended the voting. It was the first direct election of policymaker in the party. Representative Lee won 91 votes, less than a majority but still enough to win the chief policymaker title. Representative Jun Yong-won came in second with 79 votes.
Representative Hong, 60, is a native of Yeongju, North Gyeongsang province. He graduated from Seoul National University and worked as a JoongAng Ilbo reporter until he joined the political arena. He once worked as the Millennium Democratic Party’s spokesman and joined the Grand National Party in January 2000.
Representative Lee, 66, is from Geochang, South Gyeongsang province. Before entering politics, he was a budget-planning official. He joined the Grand National Party in 1992 at the recommendation of former President Kim Young-sam.
The newly formed Grand National triumvirate with Chairman Choe at the center is distinctly limited in cross-regional appeal, a party member said yesterday. The party’s new head is 65 years old and a native of Sancheong, South Gyeongsang. “The new leadership will strengthen the party’s usual support from the Gyeongsang region,” the member said, “but it is regrettable that the party failed to escape the image of an aging Gyeongsang province party.”

by Nam Jeong-ho, Park Sung-hee