Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, chairman of the ruling Grand national Party (GNP), expresses his intention to resign at a news conference at the GNP headquarters in Seoul on Dec. 9, 2011. Hong yielded to strong pressure from reformist party members who have been calling for him to resign over his alleged incapability to cope with an ongoing crisis in the wake of a series of political mishaps, including a defeat in the Seoul mayoral by-election in October and a hacking scandal, in which a ruling party lawmaker's aide reportedly paralyzed the Web site of the National Election Commission for around two hours during that election in an unsuccessful attempt to help a ruling party candidate. (Yonhap)
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