Kim apologizes for scandals

President Kim Dae-jung said Monday at a news conference that he will create an independent investigation agency as part of a commitment to an "unrelenting resolution to combat corruption in the year ahead."

"I was greatly shocked that some government officials, bankers and even several former and incumbent Blue House officials are charged in the scandals. I cannot suppress a heartfelt apology to the citizens," Mr. Kim said during the televised news conference.

The president, sounding careworn at times, repeated that he will not intervene in politics or in the elections this year, but will concentrate on reviving the economy and making the World Cup a success during the remaining 13 months of his five-year term. He also pledged to revive the national economy and improve North-South Korean relations.

Mr. Kim said that he will accept the resignation of Prosecutor-General Shin Seung-nam, who offered to quit late Sunday night (article below), and name a replacement soon.

Asked about planned changes in his cabinet － specifically among his economic and foreign affairs teams － Mr. Kim said, "I have been hit daily by news of various '-gates' since the end of last year, and have not had the time to think it through." He was referring to the convention, stemming from the U.S. Watergate scandal in the 1970s, of using the suffix as a generic term for a scandal.

The president said that he will not resign his membership in the Millennium Democratic Party, as the opposition has suggested as a follow-on measure to his Nov. 8 resignation as head of the party.

"I do not see a need to quit the party on whose ticket I was elected to the presidency. Quitting would not be an appropriate response to the voters who voted for me, and I still have feelings for the Millennium Democratic Party," the president said.

Mr. Kim said that Seoul is urging North Korea to talk without preconditions with the United States, as Washington has repeatedly said it would do. "The United States should give some face-saving measures in arranging talks with North Korea. I will discuss the details when President Bush visits Seoul in February," he said.

Asked about the prospects for a visit to the South by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Mr. Kim said, "I cannot speak definitively on the visit to Seoul. On paper, it has been decided. We will have to wait and see."

The president cited four main tasks and four events that will top his 2002 agenda. The four tasks are promoting economic competitiveness, improving the lives of the middle and the lower income classes, rooting out corruption and improving inter-Korean relations. The four events are 2002 World Cup Games, the Busan Asian Games, the June local elections and December presidential election.

To improve the economic situation of Korea's middle- and lower-income families, he said that he will try to contain both inflation and unemployment at 3 percent this year and provide 200,000 new units of rental housing.

by Kim Ji-soo