Kim Moo-sung and Choi Kyung-hwan's quiet moves

Kim Moo-sung and Choi Kyung-hwan's quiet moves. April. 21, 2016 07:25. by 송찬욱, 강경석기자 기자song@donga.com,coolup@donga.com. After the Saenuri Party's defeat in the April 13 general elections, former party leader Kim Moo-sung and Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan are making quiet moves. As key figures of the party, they are confronting hardship in their challenge to the next presidency and the party leadership. They seem to be groping in the dark for the time being.

Kim traveled from Busan to Seoul on Wednesday to have a farewell lunch with officers of the Saenuri Party secretariat. In the unofficial meeting, he reportedly said, "I apologize to you all for the election result even though I did my best to win the election." When some participants pointed out that some of the nomination went wrong, Kim said, "It was very difficult." He seemed to be frustrated by the complete defeat in regions that he trusted, such as Jeju.

Kim expressed his concerns about Korea's economy by saying, "President Park Geun-hye's economic policies including creative economy are right-directed but are going nowhere as the circumstances are not helping."

In the meantime, he did not say a word about issues within the party. After the lunch, when reporters ran to him and asked, "We heard that there are troubles in forming the emergency planning committee. Any comment on that?," Kim replied, "Please do not ask about such things." When Kim heard on his way to the National Assembly in the morning that reporters were waiting for him, he turned the car around to his house.

Choi has reportedly been asking for advices from people about his next moves, while staying in Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, which is his constituency. Since the day of disbanding of the Daegu-Gyeongbuk's election polling committee, every move he made has been made public. He is carefully considering all possibilities including challenging to the party leadership or working among the common ranks. Although he was the chairman of the election polling committee, the result was not good as the party lost in Daegu to an independent runner. He was also criticized by the public that the true pro-Park controversy he created had a negative influence on the election.

The party is divided by two opinions on Choi. One side claims, "Since there is no alternative in the pro-Park group, Choi should take the lead." The other side argues, "He should not participate in the upcoming national convention." Some speculate that Choi may make an announcement on his next plans at the convention of the elected scheduled on April 26 at the earliest. However, if he decides to participate in the convention, he will be in the crossfire from the nonmainstream members , again causing an intraparty feud.