South Korea: Opposition In Disarray

The worst enemy facing South Korea’s squabbling opposition, the New Korea Democratic Party, is often itself. Last week the party’s two best-known leaders, Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young Sam, broke away and formed a new group, the United Democratic Party, to protest the views of New Korea Party President Lee Min Woo.

The two Kims and Lee split over election procedures for selecting a successor to Strongman President Chun Doo Hwan, who has said he will step down in ten months. The Kims prefer an American-style presidential election and accuse Lee of being sympathetic to the government’s proposal for an indirect parliamentary vote, which could favor a candidate from Chun’s ruling Democratic Justice Party. Yet the real winner of the squabble will be Chun, who once again will be dealing with feuding factions.