◆ Why he is running?

Lee Hoi-chang cited the risk of GNP presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak stumbling before the finish line. Even if the GNP candidate were to be elected, Lee Hoi-chang said, his namesake was "not fit to be a president" charged with “rebuilding the country's foundation." "I had to give up hope that a GNP candidate would satisfy people's wishes for the transfer of power,” he said.

Lee Myung-bak enjoys popularity ratings of over 50 percent.

But Lee Hoi-chang criticized the party candidate point by point. "The people are very uneasy about the GNP candidate. They don't give him their full support. If we fail to win people's trust, it will also be difficult to realize transfer of power" from Left to Right.

Lee Myung-bak “can't recover the lost decade if he ignores basic principles or tries to curry favor with the public without principles. It's not certain what clear faith and philosophy he has about national identity,” Lee Hoi-chang claimed. "The GNP candidate can neither prevent disasters from the North Korean nuclear program nor expect to build peace on the Korean Peninsula if he maintains a vague attitude toward North Korea by sticking to the Sunshine Policy, which has proved a failure in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test."

Against the GNP candidate’s economic program, Lee Hoi-chang promised a "warm market economy that rejects pariah capitalism." The label of “pariah capitalism” is not a million miles from United New Democratic Party candidate Chung Dong-young’s labeling of the opposition frontrunner’s policies as “jungle capitalism.”

The aggressive attitude looks like a taste of things to come, promising a battle with Lee Myung-bak on three fronts: identity, policy and ideology.

Supporters and opponents of Lee Hoi-chang scuffle in front of the National Cemetery gate in Seoul on Wednesday. Lee, the former Grand National Party chairman who just announced his intention to leave the party to run for president as an independent candidate, visited the cemetery later that day.

◆ Response to critics

Lee Hoi-chang offered no clear explanation for the reversal of his tearful retirement from politics after his last defeat five years ago. But he “sincerely apologize to the people and ask for their pardon for having failed to keep the promise I made to them."

He said he was aware of the criticism but declined to defend himself against the charge that defecting from the party was tantamount to disregarding the result of the GNP primary. As a party member, Lee Hoi-chang did not run for nomination but cast his vote in the primary. Lee was vague about his motivation, saying only he was spurred by the “supreme cause of recovering the lost decade and realizing a transfer of power."

But the late entrant insisted allegations of irregularities in the disposal of the remainder of his 2002 campaign funds, which have come from GNP secretary general Lee Bang-ho himself, are unfounded. "There is no problem,” he said. “No presidents of any political parties had ever presented themselves to be probed. But I volunteered to go to the investigators, and I told them clearly that all responsibility rested with me. The case has already been investigated, and the result is known to the public in full." Lee Hoi-chang is widely considered the chief culprit in the so-called “truckloads of cash” scandal that has dogged the GNP.

He also denied his decision would split the conservative vote. "My decision will never end up splitting conservatives but make up for their shortcomings,” he said. “I want to give the people conviction why a transfer of power is needed.” He claimed far from putting up a fight against Lee Myung-bak, he was engaging in “a goodwill competition” with him.

◆ Why quit the party?

Lee Hoi-chang said he was “ready to hear harsh criticism” from party members over his defection from the GNP. "How can I express these heartbreaking emotions in words? I sincerely seek your pardon if there are party members who are angry with me." But he insisted he was leaving “because I am confident this is the only way for me to defend the free democratic system at a critical juncture." "I hope we'll meet again some time in the future,” he added.

Asked if he was ready to campaign to the end, he said, "No general would lead his men to the battlefield in the belief that he will abandon them during the war. I didn't make my mind up to quit halfway." However, "if the public judgment becomes clear that my decision was wrong, I am ready to sacrifice myself for the public will anytime." That suggests he may give up if his popularity ratings prove no match for Lee Myung-bak’s.

◆ Key campaign policies

Lee set out political reform and “power restructuring”, including a possible constitutional amendment, as his campaign policies. “Power restructuring” apparently refers to ideas floated by President Roh Moo-hyun of a parliamentary rather than a presidential system that would allow for coalition governments. Lee Hoi-chang also called for a "legal revolution that would build national discipline", re-formulation of North Korea policy and "restoration” of the Korea-U.S. alliance.

(englishnews@chosun.com )