It is not uncommon for Korean political parties to undergo a power vacuum or leadership crisis . This often happens when party leaders step down in the wake of an election defeat or a major scandal . An interim leadership -- usually termed an “ emergency planning panel ” -- takes over until party members choose new leaders . As the name suggests , such an abnormal situation should come about only rarely . It seems , however , that this is not a rarity , but the norm for Korean parties : Currently , all three major political parties are run by stopgap leaderships , some of which -- in the case of for the Saenuri Party and The Minjoo Party of Korea -- are headed by outside figures . This clearly shows Korean parties lack sustainable governance systems .   Factional strife is blamed for the current situation at both the ruling Saenuri and main opposition Minjoo Party , while the crisis in the third - largest People ’ s Party was prompted by the resignation of its paramount leader Ahn Cheol - soo in the aftermath of a corruption scandal . It is none other than Ahn who had plunged the Minjoo Party into crisis , which resulted in the resignation of its leader Moon Jae - in in January . Ahn , accusing Moon and other members who were close to late President Roh Moo - hyun of hegemonic control of the party , left and created his own party .      The Minjoo Party brought in Kim Chong - in , a former economic adviser for President Park Geun - hye , as its interim leader . Kim steered the party -- not without difficulty -- through the April 13 parliamentary election . The party plans to elect new leadership on Aug . 27 , which means the nation ’ s main opposition party will have been drifting leaderless for about seven months .   If the internal feud between Roh loyalists and Ahn ’ s group caused the split of the Minjoo Party , the crisis at the ruling Saenuri Party was driven by strife between mainstreamers loyal to President Park and minority faction members . Their confrontation -- escalated by Park ’ s interference in the nominations of party candidates -- led the party to a devastating defeat in the April 13 general election , which forced party leader Kim Moo - sung to step down .   But unlike the Minjoo Party which quickly brought in Kim , the Saenuri Party had difficulty reaching a consensus on its stopgap leadership . It was only in late May -- about 50 days after Kim Moo - sung ’ s resignation -- that the party appointed Kim Hee - ok , a former prosecutor who also once headed Dongguk University , as the head of its emergency plan panel . At the People ’ s Party , floor leader Park Jie - won has taken over the interim leadership , but the party has yet to reach a consensus as to when and how it will elect a new leadership . In other words , the party will have to go through the same uncertainties the Saenuri Party and the Minjoo Party have been going through for months .    It is not a pure coincidence that all of the three biggest parties are going through leadership crises . It shows the Korean political party system needs a more stable , sustainable governance scheme .   Since the 20 th National Assembly began early last month , major parties have been discussing reforms , such as curtailing lawmakers ’ powers and privileges . They also need to think about how to reform the way political parties are run and how to minimize risks of instability and leadership crises . <ⓒ KoreaHerald ( www . koreaherald . com ) 무단 전재 및 재 배포 금지 >