Opposition Castigates Cabinet in Assembly

Opposition leader Lee Hoi-chang lashed out at the government Thursday, calling for the resignation of the entire cabinet to avert what he termed a "national emergency."

Speaking before the National Assembly's plenary session, Mr. Lee said, "the Kim Dae-jung administration has brought about a national crisis by failing to gain public trust and giving priority to a specific region."

He called on the president to give up his leadership of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party, and for the government to appoint an independent counsel to look into two illegal loan and bribery scandals that evolved from loans made by Hanvit Bank and Dongbang Mutual Savings and Finance.

"We need to drastically reform government agencies, including the Financial Supervisory Service, that function as central agencies for regulation of the banking sector," said Mr. Lee.

He also demanded that the current administration discontinue its practice of appointing people from the Cholla provinces to top posts.

After the opposition leader's speech, the ruling party said that he went too far in his assessment of the challenges facing the nation.

"What constituted national emergencies were when the past authoritarian governments wielded power arbitrarily over the nation," said Suh Young-hoon, the ruling party chairman. "Right now, we are mired in some economic difficulty, but it is not a crisis."

The National Assembly opened a plenary session Wednesday. Legislators will review the 2001 fiscal budget and submit a bill to impeach the nation's top two prosecutors during the session.

by Kim Ji-soo