New leaders of the main opposition Democratic United Party proclaimed an all-out struggle against President Lee Myung-bak and his Grand National Party on Monday, their first day on the job.

Han Myeong-sook, elected Sunday as chief of the liberal party, also vowed to oust conservatives from power by uniting all opposition forces against the GNP in the upcoming elections.

“We will thoroughly embrace the public mandate to pass judgment on the current administration and retake power,” the former prime minister said, chairing her first meeting of the Supreme Council, the party’s top decision-making body.

“We will work to unite all forces and individuals who oppose the Grand National Party for the common cause of victory in the upcoming general elections,” she said. 

Political observers predict a rough political season in the run-up to the April 11 parliamentary elections, as hardliners outnumber doves in the new DUP leadership.

In a vote participated in by nearly 800,000 party members and ordinary citizens, Han and five others leaders were chosen to serve the main opposition bloc in a crucial year of parliamentary and presidential elections.

In Monday’s council meeting, the new leaders wasted no time in attacking the ruling conservatives, who have been beset by a series of corruption allegations.

Moon Sung-keun, an actor-turned-politician who won a council seat after garnering the second-highest tally in the leadership vote after Han, demanded the re-consideration of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, which has been ratified by the legislatures of the two countries and is to go into effect next month.

“The Korea-U.S. FTA must be re-examined from square one by a new panel consisting of the judiciary, legislative and administrative bodies and civic groups,” he said. “I demand the government suspend its plan to implement the FTA.”

He also called for the appointment of independent councils to probe three cases involving the president and the ruling camp. They are the cyber attack against the National Election Commission allegedly masterminded by two aides to GNP lawmakers, a stock price manipulation scandal involving the president, widely known as the BBK case, and allegations of irregularities surrounding Lee’s clandestine purchase of property in southern Seoul.

Rep. Park Young-sun said the DUP must push for three reforms above all else ― the reforms of chaebol, or large family-owned conglomerates, the public prosecution and the party’s internal process of selecting election candidates.

By Lee Sun-young  (milaya@heraldcorp.com)