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| Roh Kun-ho, the only son of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, speaks on behalf of his family during the memorial service to mark the senior Roh's death at Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Saturday. / Yonhap |
NPAD stiff suffering fractional feud
The son of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, harshly criticized the Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung at a memorial service for his father, Saturday.
However, political analysts believe Roh Kun-ho's speech may hurt the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) Chairman Moon Jae-in's leadership, and boost Kim's profile as a presidential candidate.
Roh committed suicide in 2009 by jumping off a cliff near his retirement home in Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.
"I would like to express my special appreciation to a guest who has attended the event," the junior said during the memorial event in the village.
The Saenuri leader was the first ruling party chairman who has participated in such a service.
"He read part of a transcript of the 2007 inter-Korean summit (between Roh and then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il), criticizing President Roh for giving up the Northern Limit Line (NLL)," Roh added.
The NLL is the de facto inter-Korean maritime border in the West Sea, though Pyongyang disputes it.
During the presidential campaign in 2012, Kim had allegedly read part of the classified transcript and leaked it, claiming that the late President suggested giving up the NLL during the summit.
However, prosecutors decided not to indict the legislator.
"The criticism of the Saenuri chairman could produce a negative reaction toward the former President and Moon's status as a presidential candidate," said Bae Jong-chan, chief director at political pollster Research and Research.
He added that possible anti-Roh sentiment may be in store for Kim in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province or the non-Roh faction within the NPAD.
"Consequently, Moon's approval rating in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province may decline," Bae said.
In addition, speculation is rife that the critical speech was aimed at strengthening solidarity among the pro-Roh faction.
"While Moon is under fire for the ‘pro-Roh hegemony,' the speech can only be seen to others as another attempt to unify the faction," Kim Neung-gou, another political analyst, said in a media interview.
Bae also said that the "unexpected" speech may raise a question of whether Moon can control the pro-Roh faction as well as the NPAD.
Meanwhile, Kim Sang-gon, a former Gyeonggi Province education superintendent, was named Sunday to head the party's task force to hammer out the long-running factional feud.
Now, the NPAD is largely divided into a majority who favor the legacy and policies of the late President and those who do not.
And the NPAD is caught in a factional conflict.
During the ceremony, those supportive of the former President booed Rep. Chun Jung-bae when he was introduced. Chun served as the justice minister under the Roh administration, but quit the NPAD after feuding with the party's leadership, including Moon, over fielding candidates for the April 29 by-elections. The independent Chun won in a constituency of Gwangju, home turf for the non-Roh faction in the NPAD.
In addition, former NPAD co-leaders Kim Han-gil and Ahn Cheol-soo along with Rep. Park Jie-won also were met with cursing and jeering for "triggering internal strife" when they jointly paid respects at Roh's grave.
In the face of the uproar, Moon said "It is a shame that the NPAD is showing division and discord in front of Roh's grave."
"The pro-Roh group's booing of Chun, who received the support of 52.4 percent in Gwangju in the by-elections, can make Honam region, or South and North Jeolla Province, turn its back on Moon," Bae said, adding that Moon, the leader of the pro-Roh faction and leading presidential candidate within the opposition side, was the biggest loser from the memorial service.
