Two former Millennium Democratic Party lawmakers Kim Won-gil and Park Sang-kyu joined the Grand National Party on Tuesday. Due to their joining the party, the opposition party now holds 150 seats at the National Assembly, 13 more than the simple majority (137 seats), out of the total 272 seats.

The two incoming members said during a press interview that considering the economy, Korea-US and NK-SK relations, and social issues, the role of the next administration was more important than any thing else. "With respect to statecraft and administrative skills, we believe the GNP's Lee Hoi-chang is more capable and stable than the MDP's Roh Moo-hyun," they said.

Political circles were shocked that Kim, a former minister of health and welfare and a three-time elected lawmaker who was also an MDP secretary general, has joined the GNP; as did the move by Park, a two-time elected lawmaker who used to be the head of the Special Committee for Small Businesses and also an MDP secretary general.

GNP presidential candidate Lee resigned from his lawmaker's position Tuesday, in order to officially stand as a candidate for the presidency; his seat was taken over by former lawmaker Yu Han-yeol.

(Choi Joon-sok, jschoi@chosun.com )