New Chairman Chung Dong-young of the Uri Party

New Chairman Chung Dong-young of the Uri Party. January. 11, 2004 22:49. by Sung-Won Park swpark@donga.com.

Rep. Chung Dong-young was elected chairman of the Permanent Central Committee, which is the equivalent to the post of chairman of the party, at the temporary party convention of the Uri Party on January 11.

Candidate Chung gained 5,307 (31.8 percent) votes among 16,676 votes in the election for a party chairman and members of Permanent Central Committee, thus winning it and surpassing candidate Shin Ki-nam, who gained 2,817 votes by the difference of 2,490 votes. The election gave two votes to the party members.

Chairman Chung is 51 years old this year, which makes him the second youngest chairman of a major party following after former president Kim Young-sam elected chairman of the Shinmin party in 1974 when he was 47 years old. This will heighten the atmosphere of a generation shift and general transformations in the political society, as well as giving rise to the competition to recruit new personalities.

In the election, Rep. Lee Bu-yuong, Rep. Kim Jung-gil, and Rep. Lee Mi-gyeong won the third, fourth, and fifth place with 2,143, 1,741, 1,695 votes respectively and were thus elected as the members of the Permanent Central Committee.

Rep. Chang Young-dal, Rep. Huh Un-na, and Rep. Yoo Jae-kun failed to get elected with 1,092, 1,073, and 808 votes respectively.

Chairman Chung said in his acceptance speech, “I will eliminate the old, corrupt politics and increase the support rate for the Uri Party to first place in the general election this April,” adding, “With the construction of reform guidance team for this, we will decrease vested rights from the conventional politicians and public nomination of the new politicians with professionalism.”

He also said, “I will strenuously continue the political reform faced with an obstacle created by the three major oppositional parties’ attachment to their vested rights under the resolution that ‘one’s death is another’s chance of life,’” also resolving, “I will open the era of national rights of public nomination with the electoral college who were chosen scrupulously through a bottom-up procedure to create a member-centered participatory party.”

Additionally, he emphasized, “I will build a powerful oppositional party that secures people’s happy lives as an economic party that focuses on revitalization of the people’s economy and a speedy party like a Mongolian flying corps.” The posts of party chairman and committee chairman are two-year terms.

Meanwhile, the Uri Party will execute a party reorganization soon with the new leadership settling in. The two members of the Permanent Central Committee will be recruited and named later.

People close to Chairman Chung confirmed their principles of “innovative organization of the general election leadership and exclusion of the alleged corruptions from the nomination” in an emergency gathering the same day.