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S Korea's Roh may leave ruling party

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said yesterday he would leave the ruling party if members ask him, amid recent moves by politicians seeking to distance themselves from his unpopular administration.

At least three members of the Uri Party -- whose around 10 percent popularity rating is only a little lower than Roh's -- have left in the past few days as the race to December's presidential election starts to heat up.

Roh's leaving the party wouldn't directly affect his ability to govern.

"Some people say the party is becoming ruined because of the president," he told a nationally televised news conference. "If you say, `if it weren't for the president, we'd stay,' then I will leave."

Opinion polls currently show the conservative opposition as the clear frontrunner to provide South Korea's next president with the Uri, or "our," Party looked increasingly divided over whether the best chance would be to cut links with Roh.

Roh, increasingly labeled a lame duck in his final year in office by a largely hostile domestic media, said the break-up of Uri would mean sliding back to the regionalism that has long dominated South Korean politics and which he has tried to end.

But top Uri member and one-time close ally of Roh, Chung Dong-young, told reporters late last week that the the party's MPs should join forces with other liberal parties to have any hope of contesting the presidential election.

He said that the party faced a crisis of trust.

The plummeting popularity of the Uri Party has meant heavy losses in by-elections and wiped out its thin majority in parliament.

That, along with internal factionalism and relentless attacks by the main opposition Grand National Party, have largely blocked new legislation by Roh.

The president took a swipe at the repeated opposition to his attempts to resolve key issues, saying some political maneuvring looked to be simply designed to block his reforms rather than because of a genuine difference of view.

Roh's latest policy initiative, to change the constitution so future presidents can hold two terms in office instead of one, has faced an icy response from the main opposition party even though some of its leaders have previously backed the idea in principle.

"I want to ask the [Uri] members cordially: `Let's try to work with Uri in a way that will achieve your political goal that you are setting for the new party,'" Roh said.

He said they could continue to push what he called middle-of-the-road political policies by staying with his party.

"So let's not break it up but instead go together."

A high-ranking Uri MP, speaking to Reuters last month but asking not to be named, echoed Roh's position.

"The only thing we have going for us is our numbers in parliament. If we break up, we lose that," he said.
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