Parties close ranks on counsel’s fate

A day before President Roh Moo-hyun planned to announce his decision on the extension of the cash-for-summit investigation, political parties yesterday were busy pushing their political agendas.
The opposition Grand National Party, which called for an extension of the independent counsel’s mandate, warned of noncooperation in the National Assembly and on government affairs if Mr. Roh rejects the counsel’s request to lengthen the investigation. “The president needs to remind himself of the reason he established the independent counsel,” said Park Jong-hee, the opposition spokesman. “If he rejects the counsel’s request, President Roh and the governing Millennium Democratic Party should be held responsible for a chilly political climate.”
The opposition party, playing its trump card, said that it would oppose the review of public welfare bills and that it would push to submit a motion to fire cabinet members if the extension were rejected. The opposition called on the counsel to investigate former President Kim Dae-jung and snubbed calls for the prosecution to investigate the 15 billion won ($13 million) Hyundai said it gave to Mr. Park in the early days of June 2000, bypassing the independent counsel, an idea floated by the Blue House.
“In February, the prosecution said that it would not delve into inter-Korean affairs. Thus, the prosecution has no right to investigate this issue,” Mr. Park said.
The governing Millennium Democratic Party abided with Mr. Roh’s apparent sentiments on the matter, as expressed yesterday during a game of badminton, and released by the Blue House. “As the counsel has uncovered the obtaining of the loan and the nature of it, we should not damage the trust and the spirit of the June 15 Joint Communique by extending the counsel’s days,” said Representative Kim Keun-tae of the Millennium Democratic Party. Mr. Kim and 60 other Millennium Democrats issued a joint statement that warned of “national dissension” if the independent counsel’s term is extended.

by Kang Min-seok