Opposition chief vows to get to the bottom of bailout funds' misuse

"We will get to the bottom of the diverted bailout funds no matter how long it takes," said Lee Hoi-chang, head of the opposition Grand National Party, Monday in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo. Mr. Lee added that the government should take full responsibility.

He repeatedly expressed the intention to unveil the truth and inquire into responsibility. "I believe that the report by the inspector of the Board of Audit and Inspection has not fully revealed the whole truth," he said.

"The misallocated bailout funds, which amount to three times more than the 2.8 trillion won ($2.2 billion) collected by the people during the regional financial crisis in 1997, cannot be dismissed lightly," said Mr. Lee. He added that the responsibility of the government officials in charge of the funds is more important than punishment of the persons who misused them. Fixing responsibility would be sorted out during the National Assembly investigation, he said.

The opposition leader, who is expected to run for president next year, asserted that a change should take place in a presidential system he called monarchical.

"As it is stated in the Constitution, the prime minister should be given substantial authorization to nominate cabinet members," he said, calling for administrative control by the cabinet "while the president attends to bigger national issues. A lot of problems could be easily solved if national affairs were to be divided between the president and the minister."

On the issue of changing the retirement age of school teachers from 62 to 63, Mr. Lee said he was astounded by the public reaction. "We are definitely not pushing the bill with our parliamentary majority, and we have no plans to enforce the bill," he said.

Mr. Lee said that President Kim Dae-jung's resignation as head of the Millennium Democratic Party had done nothing to promote reform.

"The mandatory minimum for government reform should be that President Kim remedy corruption and abuse within the government, form an impartial cabinet with expert advice and guarantee a fair presidential election next year," he said. He added that it was not appropriate to establish a bipartisan cabinet including both the majority and minority parties.

On the issue of the separation of party president and presidential nominee, an issue within the Grand National Party Mr. Lee said he would respect the party's decision.

by Lee Sang-il