It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

LIKE RATS LEAVING A SINKING SHIP: More members bolt President Kim Dae Jung's Millennium Democratic Party (MDP). This reflects both an increasing sense that, without Kim Dae Jhung at the helm (Kim is constitutionally prohibited from seeking re-election), there is little hope for the MDP to repeat its electoral success. Moreover, the entire outcome of the approaching presidential election hinges on whether these defectors are successful in forcing MDP party candidate Roh Mu-hyun and newly-launched National Unity 21 Party candidate Chung Mong-joon to submit to some sort of second primary in which only one of the two candidates would be chosen to challenge front-runner Yi Hoi-chang. It remains to be seen whether they will succeed.