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United New Democratic Party presidential hopefuls Sohn Hak-kyu (left) and Lee Hae-chan meet to respond to allegations of campaign irregularities by UNDP candidate Chung Dong-young at the Kookmin Ilbo building in Yeouido early Tuesday morning.
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The second- and third-placed presidential hopefuls of the United New Democratic Party met urgently shortly after midnight on Tuesday to discuss the party¡¯s increasingly scandal-ridden primary. Former prime minister Lee Hae-chan reportedly agreed with ex-Gyeonggi governor Sohn Hak-kyu to ask the party leadership to halt the ongoing primary, which has been going from scandal to scandal for over a month, with allegations that supporters were bused in for the polls and other suspected irregularities.
The camps of the two presidential contenders said they concluded they cannot continue to participate in the primary. They said while police are investigating alleged campaign irregularities by the unexpected frontrunner Chung Dong-young, the party continues to dither over them. Chung, a former leader of the defunct Uri Party, is suspected of using his private support organizations to win primary elections, which are being held piecemeal by region. The meeting came at Lee¡¯s request. The UNDP leadership decided against halting the primary, but the two contenders are calling for a temporary suspension until the charges are cleared up.
Among other irregularities, police are investigating a female Chung supporter on suspicion that she told three college students to put down President Roh Moo-hyun as a member of the primary electoral college in a messy registration process.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police is trying to locate a district council member on suspicion of ordering the three college students to use the identity of altogether 98 people, including Roh, politicians and celebrities to register for the electoral college. Police applied for an arrest warrant for the woman, Chung In-hoon, who is also banned from leaving the country. She is known as a supporter of Chung Dong-young.
The woman and her husband have been at large since they left their home in Jongno District, Seoul on Sept. 30. Police say the councilor¡¯s son and two other college students made the phony registrations by using the names of the president, who is not a UNDP member, and other people. The three reportedly told police they were paid W5,000 (US$1=W913) per hour, spending three hours to register all the names.
Presidential hopeful Chung apologized to the president, the UNDP and party members at a campaign rally in Daejeon on Monday. He said ¡°some supporters¡± committed the irregularities out of ¡°excessive devotion and loyalty.¡± He promised to prevent a recurrence.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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