By Lee Tae-hoon
The head of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) said Tuesday that the country’s second largest umbrella union group will withdraw its backing for the strife-ridden Unified Progressive Party (UPP).
“There is no doubt that the KCTU will pull its support,” Kim Young-hoon, president of union, said in a radio interview.
“We will discuss whether to create a new party after abandoning the UPP or aggressively engage in party affairs to become the principal player of the UPP in a meeting of the central executive committee.”
His remarks come on the heels of growing public outrage over the UPP main faction’s refusal to accept a plan for reform suggested by the party’s top decision making central committee.
The committee also proposed all of its six proportional lawmakers-elect resign over a vote rigging scandal.
The KCTU has 677,790 members from 1,768 labor unions under its wing. Of 130,000 UPP members, some 45,000 are believed to be affiliated with the KCTU, making the umbrella group one of the largest stake holders of the leftist party.
Its withdrawal of support for the UPP is expected to deal a severe blow to the party as this could possibly trigger a mass defection of members or the creation of a rival party.
The factional feud between moderates and radicals appears to be deepening after the launch of the party’s emergency committee, which will be led by Rep. Kang Ki-kab, former head of the defunct Democratic Labor Party.
Members of the party’s main faction continued to deny the legitimacy of the interim leadership and the party central committee’s decision to make proportional representation lawmakers-elect step down.
According to a senior official of the National Assembly, all of the six lawmakers-elect, including Yoon Geum-soon who offered their resignation on May 4 over vote rigging in the party's selection of proportional candidates, have finished the registration process.
“None of the UPP’s proportional lawmakers-elect, including Yoon Geun-soon, Lee Seok-gi and Kim Jae-yeon, has expressed their intent to remove their names from the list of 19th Assembly lawmakers,” the official told The Korea Times.
“The Assembly has no authority to make them adhere to their party’s decision to give up their lawmaker seats.”
He noted that of 300 lawmakers-elect, 177 had finished their registration as of Monday.
Of 13 UPP lawmakers, everyone except for Shim Sang-jung, former co-leader of the party, has completed their registration.
Rep. Kang said the party will investigate a brawl at a Saturday meeting of the party’s central committee at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province and punish those responsible for the violence.
A day earlier, prosecutors launched an investigation into the violent clash caused by belligerent members of the UPP’s main faction who have resorted to violence to block the launch of the interim leadership.
Scores of party members jumped onto the stage to block proceedings as Shim tried to raise critical issues, including the resignation of the four incumbent party leaders and proportional lawmakers-elect.
Leaders of the party were punched and kicked as they tried to evacuate the meeting room.
The lawmakers-elect of the UPP planned to have a meeting Tuesday to discuss how to cope with the mounting public criticism and escalating feud between members of the main faction and moderates.
However, they abruptly cancelled the meeting, citing excessive media interest in their planned close-door get together.