ID :
106322
Fri, 02/12/2010 - 18:50
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/106322
The shortlink copeid
Lee willing to end ruling party`s internal conflict: aides
(ATTN: REWRITES para 6; UPDATES with more details of meeting, Park's reaction from
para 7)
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.
After a breakfast meeting with newly-appointed GNP executive members at the
presidential office, Lee held a separate closed-door meeting with GNP Chairman
Chung Mong-joon during which he said "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.
"The image of conflict within the party doesn't look good to the people," Cho
Hae-jin, GNP's spokesman, also quoted Lee as saying during the meeting with new
party appointees.
The president also insisted on forming a party platform on the Sejong City matter
through a democratic process, underscoring that members of the party, regardless
of their different views, must follow the party's decision once it is fixed.
"Even if personal thoughts are different (from the party's position), the party's
position, if determined, must be followed and that would be democratic. A
decision reached through a discussion process must be followed," Lee was quoted
as saying.
Park did not offer any particular response to the president's remarks, Rep. Lee
Jung-hyun, a close confidant of Park, told Yonhap News Agency by phone.
"Park did not make any particular remarks regarding this," said Rep. Lee, adding
that she and those close to the former GNP chairwoman do not want to make the
situation worse.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
para 7)
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.
After a breakfast meeting with newly-appointed GNP executive members at the
presidential office, Lee held a separate closed-door meeting with GNP Chairman
Chung Mong-joon during which he said "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.
"The image of conflict within the party doesn't look good to the people," Cho
Hae-jin, GNP's spokesman, also quoted Lee as saying during the meeting with new
party appointees.
The president also insisted on forming a party platform on the Sejong City matter
through a democratic process, underscoring that members of the party, regardless
of their different views, must follow the party's decision once it is fixed.
"Even if personal thoughts are different (from the party's position), the party's
position, if determined, must be followed and that would be democratic. A
decision reached through a discussion process must be followed," Lee was quoted
as saying.
Park did not offer any particular response to the president's remarks, Rep. Lee
Jung-hyun, a close confidant of Park, told Yonhap News Agency by phone.
"Park did not make any particular remarks regarding this," said Rep. Lee, adding
that she and those close to the former GNP chairwoman do not want to make the
situation worse.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
