hankyoreh

Dec. 15. (Photo by Kang Chang-kwang)

By Seong Yeon-cheol

Next Monday, the Grand National Party begins leadership under chairwoman, Park Geun-hye.

Park returns to the forefront of the party five years and five months after stepping down as chairwoman in June 2006. Daunting tasks now await the lawmaker, who previously pledged "reforms that go far beyond a re-inauguration, that change the party down to its marrow."

The first and most difficult is deciding the membership of the committee. The committee, which will consist of 15 members, will be an initial gauge of Park's style in appointing people to positions.

A second-term lawmaker said, "If the members of the emergency countermeasures committee end up as the kind of 'Korea University/Somang Presbyterian Church/Yeongnam' figures seen in the Lee Myung-bak administration's Cabinet, it could face a crisis early on."

Park is known to be intent on bringing fresh faces rather than party insiders onto the committee. Her advisers said they were aware of her seeking out a diverse group including individuals who would bring novelty, expertise, and even critical views on the GNP to the table, but no specifics have yet emerged.

An adviser from the party's Park wing said, "Because this happened so abruptly, even Park Geun-hye has to view this as a kind of blank slate."

"She's probably very concerned, too," the adviser said.

Some observers in and around the party said the focus should be on integration, including figures like Gyeonggi Gov. Kim Moon-soo, rather than on bringing in outsiders who are unfamiliar with the party's situation.

Park also has to decide how hard the party needs to work to distinguish itself from President Lee. A second-term lawmaker said Park was "likely to try to be naturally seen as different from the growth focus of President Lee by presenting policies for solving polarization issues and for welfare services."

Another associate said Park may try to set herself apart with a "principled and resolute approach to improprieties by Lee Myung-bak's relatives and in-laws."

Others in the party predicted possible stern measures against GNP lawmaker Choi Gu-sik, who has been implicated a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the National Election Commission web site.

The issue of nominations presents another quandary. Park herself said she would "ensure the most exemplary nominations," but the issue is one that lawmaker careers hinge on. At the moment, her position is that it would not be possible to adopt an "open primary" format determined completely by citizen participation unless the ruling and opposition parties both did it at the same time.

An adviser from the Park wing said, "There is a good chance that full authority for nominations will be given to a nominee review committee centering on outside figures, just as it was given to the two committee chairmen Kim Moon-soo and Park Se-il back in 2004 when she was party chairwoman."

"Park's role will likely begin and end as a kind of shield against cold drafts for the nominee review committee," the adviser predicted.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]