&#91EDITORIALS&#93A shameless stance

The prospect of passing a law to create an independent counsel in the investigation of Hyundai’s illicit transfer of money to North Korea remains gloomy. This is absolutely incomprehensible. The passage of the bill for an independent counsel, which the opposition Grand National Party plans to submit to the National Assembly’s Judiciary Committee today, remains uncertain because of opposition by the Millennium Democratic Party. The MDP insisted on a “political solution.” Hahn Hwa-kap, an MDP bigwig, said the issue needs to be dealt with as part of a greater scheme of things, such as the national interest and peace on the Korean Peninsula, since President Kim Dae-jung has already apologized for it. The talk of a political solution or a greater scheme of things can be deceiving since they both refer to burying the issue and moving on.
The Millennium Democrats are shameless for taking such a stance. When the GNP raised the allegation before the presidential election, they were up in arms rebuking the claim, telling the opposition to stop making groundless accusations and labeling the opposition “anti-people” and “anti-historical progress.” They even issued a statement of denunciation. Mr. Hahn and others repeatedly accused the GNP of cooking things up for political purposes. It turns out they were the ones with political motives and who covered things up.
President-elect Roh Moo-hyun said during the campaign that without uncovering the full truth, trust between North and South Korea will disappear. Even after the election, Mr. Roh vowed to verify the truth. Covering up suspicions of this magnitude will not help the progress of inter-Korean relations.
Given that, how can the MDP now threaten the country by saying an independent counsel investigation will not serve the national interest and will destroy peace on the Korean Peninsula? This is truly baffling. As the polls show, the public does not believe President Kim told all the truth last week. Most of us want the full truth uncovered before anything else happens.