Efforts to reshape South Korea's faction-ridden politics took a new turn today when President Roh Tae-woo's governing party indicated it would dissolve itself to form a new ``grand'' conservative party. The move by the governing Democratic Justice Party, coupled with strenuous efforts by the two centrist opposition parties to merge, made the country's political picture complex. ``We will actively respond to moves by the two opposition parties to merge,'' said the governing party's secretary general, Park Jun-byung. Another Democratic Justice official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, ``It is possible that we would consider forming a new pan-national, centrist party representing all democratic groups.'' If the new conservative party is formed, the governing party could be folded and its leader, Roh, would give up party membership and stay neutral, the same official said. Kim Young-sam, head of the No. 2 opposition group, said today that he would firm up plans next month to merge his Reunification Democratic Party with the No. 3 opposition group, the New Democratic Republican Party, led by former premier Kim Jong-pil. The two opposition leaders earlier agreed in principle to merge their parties possibly before local elections, scheduled in the first half of this year. ``It would not be a simple merger of two parties. The new party to be born would be a central force comprising all conservative groups,'' Kim Young-sam told reporters. Kim said his ultimate goal is to make the present four-party system into a bipartisan setup. If the two parties merge, it would become the largest opposition group, replacing Kim Dae-jung's Party for Peace and Democracy. The emergence of a centrist opposition party would be welcome news for the governing party, which has been trying to isolate and discredit Kim Dae-jung's liberal, pro-reform party. Kim Dae-jung, holding a news conference today, vehemently opposed the planned merger by his opposition rivals, contending an artificial restructuring of the present four-party system would only benefit Roh's governing party. He said the government camp would try to use the planned opposition merger to seek a conservative alliance, through which it would try to remain in power beyond 1993, when Roh steps down at the end of a single five-year term. Many politicians believe the government camp also favors a political realignment that would enable it to hold onto power as Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party does. If its plan to merge or seek alliance with opposition moderates is successful, the government camp, assured of enough votes in the Assembly, would propose a constitutional amendemnt to change the present presidential system into a Cabinet setup headed by a prime minister, they said. The governing party, with 127 seats in the Assembly, is currently far short of a two-third majority required for a constitutional amendment. South Korea's politics are currently controlled by four main parties, neither of which has a controling majority in the 299-member National Assembly. The three main opposition parties have a combined majority in the single house but intense rivalry makes it difficult for them to cooperate. At his news conference, Kim Dae-jung said he would try to rally support from ``centrist democratic forces'' to counter moves by his rivals to merge or seek alliance. However, his proposal lacked details. He also reiterated that his party would, if the government endorses the plan, send delegates to communist North Korea in the first half of this year to discuss national unification. If the dispatch of the party delegation is proven successful, Kim said he would visit Pyongyang with government approval to meet with North Korean leader Kim Il Sung He said President Roh responded favorably when he raised the issue last week. But presidential and government officials said the opposition plan to send delegates to the north was premature.
