(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Nov. 12)

Park's choice

It is deplorable that the ongoing Cabinet interpellation session at the National
Assembly has turned into a battleground between the two major factions of the
ruling Grand National Party.

Members of pro-Park Geun-hye and pro-Lee Myung-bak
groups have made scathing attacks against each other day after day, neglecting
policy inquiries.
The focus of the argument is the Lee government's attempt to change Sejong City
to something other than the originally planned "multifunctional administrative
city." Park Geun-hye's refusal to support revising the Sejong City plan has
dragged the governing party into such an ugly feud that the legislative forum has
been disrupted ahead of budget deliberations.
President Lee's appointment of Chung Un-chan as prime minister with the
unannounced but primary mission of resolving the Sejong City question set off the
current Lee-Park confrontation. The Park group's antagonism toward Chung is
sharpened by the fact that the former Seoul National University president who was
once wooed by the liberal forces for presidential candidacy is a possible
challenger to Park in the 2012 election.
Some pro-Park lawmakers asserted in the National Assembly debate that the new
prime minister was pushing for revision of the administrative town plan in a
manner that reveals a plot to alienate and discredit Park. Rep. Han Sun-kyo,
Park's close aide, said the pro-Lee group's smear campaign portrayed the former
GNP chairwoman as a stubborn objector rather than a person of principles.
Rep. Kim Yong-tae, loyal to President Lee, accused Park of displaying political
egotism by opposing almost all major policies of the president and the ruling
party. Other pro-Lee lawmakers pressed Park to change her stance to accept the
change of the Sejong City plan "if she is not to make a mistake before the nation
and history," as Rep. Chung Doo-un put it. The wrangling has spread from the
National Assembly floor to media interviews.
Park has been consistent with her position that the special law on the
establishment of the multifunctional administrative city at the Yeongi-Gongju
area of South Chungcheong Province should be implemented as it is, preferably
with expanded auxiliary facilities. Her faction has refused to participate in an
ad hoc committee in the party, which is being formed to work out an alternative
plan in consultation with the administration.
The special law enacted in 2005, when Park headed the then opposition GNP,
prescribes that all but six administration ministries should be relocated to the
MAC. In order to change the plan, the statute should be revised, which is
impossible without support from Park and her followers.
Park is not saying much these days, but she must be carefully weighing the effect
of her refusal to compromise. Public opinion on what to do with Sejong City
differ region by region and she must know that she is losing as much as she is
gaining. Park has managed to establish an image of a politician who values trust
and adherence to principles, but she has also created the impression of being
inflexible and short-sighted.
Through her challenge to President Lee on his political and administrative agenda
in recent months, she was able to elevate her political stature to a fairly high
level, seemingly over and beyond some likely presidential hopefuls within the
party. But she cannot go on acting as a spoiler forever. She has reached a
critical point where she has to make an important decision. The best advice is to
moderate her stance to accommodate the realities of the party and get ready to
clinch leadership through fair intra-party competition. The alternative is
continuing on a course that will inevitably lead to a party split.
(END)