GNP picks new secretary general despite protests

SEOUL, July 12 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Grand National Party appointed a close aide to leader Hong Joon-pyo as the party's new secretary general on Tuesday, sparking angry accusations from his rivals that the move will hurt fairness in the nominations for next year's parliamentary elections.
Two members of the GNP's Supreme Council boycotted the vote to endorse a proposal to appoint Rep. Kim Jung-kwon to the key post. The party's secretary general is in charge of the nomination process for candidates for the general elections. Reps. Woo Seong-min and Won Hee-ryong protested that a more neutral person should take the job.
A two-term lawmaker, Kim, 51, served as Hong's spokesman in 2008 when he was floor leader.
Factional disputes have long plagued the GNP, contributing to a fall in its popularity.
Opinion polls suggest that the conservative ruling party stands to lose many of the 171 seats that it currently holds in the 299-member National Assembly unless it turns voter sentiment around amid negative perceptions about the grim job market and growing income disparity.
ejkim@yna.co.kr