Park Tae-joon to Restore MDP-ULD Partnership

At a press conference celebrating his 100th day in office, Prime Minister Park Tae-joon officially announced plans to restore the partnership between the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) and the United Liberal Democrats (ULD). Following are questions put to the prime minister and the answers he provided.

Q: Do you intend to restore the partnership between the MDP and the ULD?
A: I will make an effort to restore the partnership. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) crisis was overcome as the result of MDP-ULD joint efforts so I believe current government problems can be solved in the same way.

Q: Are you going to meet with ULD honorary president Kim Jong-pil?
A: I've been considering it. I'll try to contact him as soon as I have the opportunity.

Q: What are your views on the recent the general election?
A: When I was president of the ULD I insisted on the adoption of the Medium constituency system, which creates medium-sized electoral districts, in order to ensure fair elections, by encouraging candidates not to use much money and to reduce divisive regionalism. If I had run as a candidate in the general election, I most likely would not have been elected.

Q: What are the chances of a Cabinet system being adopted in Korea?
A: Most people still prefer the presidential system.

Q: What will you do if the MDP-ULD partnership is not restored?
A: I refuse to consider the possibility that the partnership will not be restored.

Q: Will you ever participate in politics again?
A: I am definitely not interested in doing so now.

by Ko Jung-ae