The former Gyeonggi Province governor Sohn Hak-kyu officially announced his defection from the opposition Grand National Party on Monday. Sohn, who has the third most support of GNP presidential hopefuls, pledged to seek a new political order including a possible new party. That leaves the field in the GNP primaries clear for former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak, the popular front runner, and ex-GNP chairwoman Park Geun-hye. Whether Sohn will join forces with defectors from the ruling camp to form a new party remains to be seen.
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Former Gyeonggi Province governor Sohn Hak-kyu speaks at a press conference on his defection from the Grand National Party, at the Kim Koo Museum and Library in Seoul on Monday afternoon.
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"I've decided to give up all opportunities and vested rights I've had to open a new way,¡± Sohn said in an emotional press conference at the Kim Koo Museum and Library in Seoul. ¡°I've decided to leave the GNP to break with outdated conservatism and an incompetent Left and seek a new road for the new Republic of Korea." He vowed to dedicate himself to forming a creative leadership that will oversee ¡°an era of peace and unity.¡± ¡°I¡¯m willing to sacrifice myself to organize a dream team for the country," he added. Close associates said Sohn wants to found a new party by uniting middle-of-the-road political forces. Sohn fired a parting shot at the GNP, where he said ¡°remnants of former military regimes and former dictatorships are still playing master" and which remains in thrall to ¡°old-fashioned political practices."
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Former Gyeonggi Province governor Sohn Hak-kyu weeps during a press conference on his defection from the Grand National Party, at the Kim Koo Museum and Library in Seoul on Monday.
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Over in the Uri Party, former chairmen Chung Dong-young and Kim Geun-tae welcomed Sohn's defection, calling it a "courageous decision." But there was embarrassment and anger in the GNP. Members accused Sohn of being a ¡°second Rhee In-je¡±, after a perennial presidential hopeful who twice quit his party when the primaries turned against him, and was both times defeated in the polls.
A close aide to Sohn said the former governor will try to galvanize a ¡°third force¡± of the center. Others expect him to run in the open primary of the ruling camp, where he could come up against former Uri chairmen Chung Dong-young and Kim Geun-tae, Seoul National University president Chung Un-chan, and former prime minister Han Myeong-sook.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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