President calls for efforts to renew ruling party following election defeat

(ATTN: CHANGES slug from president-economic recoery; RECASTS headline, lead paras
with additional remarks by president, ADDS details)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak called for swift measures to
reform the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) Wednesday but expressed his
continued confidence in the party leadership, saying party leaders must spearhead
efforts to unite splinter groups.

Lee's call came at a meeting with GNP chairman Park Hee-tae, the first meeting
between the two since the ruling party suffered a crushing defeat in by-elections
a week ago. The GNP lost in all five parliamentary races.
"The election forces us think hard about our ruling party," the president said.
Park earlier said his party would humbly accept the outcome of the April 29
by-elections, calling it a "wake-up call" from the public.
The GNP leader was immediately pressed to step down, a common response here to an
election defeat.
Lee apparently put an end to such calls Wednesday, saying the party leader must
spearhead efforts to reform and unite the troubled party.
The GNP and the main opposition Democratic Party are both scheduled to elect a
new group of leaders, including the party whip and vice floor leaders, within the
month.
The president also thanked Park for the parliament's recent passage of a 28.4
trillion won (US$21.4 billion) supplementary budget, noting it will help create a
large number of jobs.
"The entire world says Korea is doing better than any other nation, but we must
not believe so and continue to take careful and consistent measures," he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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