President to address Assembly on security crisis

President Park Geun-hye will address the National Assembly this morning regarding the latest security crisis on the Korean Peninsula.

She is scheduled to give her speech at 10 a.m. today.

The floor leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party, Rep. Lee Jong-kul, was originally scheduled to speak this morning but instead conceded to the president. Lee will address the legislature Wednesday.

“Park will emphasize the importance of national unity in deterring additional provocations from North Korea to ease public insecurity,” said Kim Sung-woo, a senior presidential public affairs secretary.

Park has given three speeches at the National Assembly since she took the office to explain budget bills. However, this marks the first time she is scheduled to address the security crisis on the peninsula, including the North’s fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6 and subsequent missile launch on Feb. 7.

The president will also discuss South Korea’s subsequent decision to end its inter-Korean economic project at the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

It’s possible that Park could meet with the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties when she visits the legislature this morning.

The main opposition Minjoo Party is currently led by interim Chairman Kim Chong-in, the architect of the president’s campaign promise for an “economic democracy.” However, he and Park parted bitterly after she won the election, with Kim saying that the president failed to follow through on her promises.

BY SER MYO-JA [ser.myoja@joongang.co.kr]