[EDITORIALS]Yawn ― another Roh proposal

President Roh Moo-hyun went down to Daejeon to announce his new plan to develop the nation’s land. The speech was full of such catchwords as “innovative land development,” “multi-center land development” and “network land development.”
But the plan did not include any details about its implementation. The only concrete part was a reiteration of the administration’s plan to build a new administrative capital. His choice of Daejeon for his speech may be seen as a campaign scheme to appeal to the voters in the area.
The government said the plan was created after hundreds of meetings. Even if the plan has not been prepared hurriedly for the legislative election, but is a genuine government policy, it is still full of problems. The conception created after so many meetings is vague: “By creating a development axis connecting eastern, western and southern coastal lines, and by promoting local government-initiated land development programs, the nation will accomplish an annual growth of 6.6 percent for the next 10 years, and achieve $20,000 per capita GDP by 2012.”
The policymakers must be aware that we did not have difficulties in land development just because we lacked conceptions or plans.
It appears that Mr. Roh repeated his election pledge in Daejeon in order to remove growing suspicion that the plan for a new capital will go away once the legislative elections are over. The suspicions arise because there was no public consensus on the plan. Stephen Cardinal Sou-hwan Kim, who met Our Open Party Chairman Chung Dong-young, expressed his worries that an important issue like the relocation of the capital was decided on the basis of how many votes it can draw.
The administration claims that the passage of a special bill in the Assembly is evidence of a public consensus. But it is wrong to say that the passage of a bill to curb real estate speculation demonstrates a public consensus on the new capital plan.
The administration announces new policies day after day, but their feasibility are doubtful. In no other administration has the president engaged himself in the elections as much as Mr. Roh. We want a president who cares about the future of the nation, not one who only cares about winning elections.