Lee willing to end ruling party`s internal conflict: aides

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak on Friday expressed
willingness to meet with former ruling party leader Park Geun-hye over
contentious political issues, presidential and party spokespersons said.
Lee and Park, rivals in the Grand National Party's (GNP) presidential primary in
2007, have clashed over the government's bid to revise the previous
administration's project to relocate nine ministries to Sejong City, 160
kilometers south of Seoul.
The latest standoff between the two factions -- one loyal to Lee and another to
Park -- surfaced earlier this week after the presidential office demanded an
apology from Park, accusing her of having misconstrued Lee's comments on the
Sejong dispute.
Last month, Lee's government announced a plan to develop Sejong into a top-class
self-sufficient city that will house large corporations, universities and
research centers by 2020.
Lee and Park have long been at loggerheads over the Sejong City issue. Park,
former chairwoman of the GNP, has held fast to her position that the government
should press ahead with the original plan to create an administrative town in the
South Chungcheong Province area. Her stance has become one of the biggest hurdles
to gaining parliamentary approval for the government's proposed revision, which
calls for the new city to be turned into a business-science hub.
In a breakfast meeting with GNP leaders, Lee said that "there is no reason that
it would not be possible to meet with Park," according to spokespeople from both
the presidential office and the GNP.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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