Quotations of the day

Because of the question of the prevention of corruption, my life has been checkered.

(Main opposition Grand National Party president Lee Hoi-Chang Tuesday to civic group representatives who visited him to ask for his cooperation in their anti-corruption campaign, noting that he entered the political world following former president Kim Young-Sam's request for him to assume the post of chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection in order to crack down on corruption).

Politicians who denounce the officials of state-run enterprises as human garbage should reflect on themselves and whether they are qualified to engage in politics in dwelling places where workers' families live in overcrowded conditions. (The Federation of Korean Trade Unions responding on Tuesday to Rep. Kim Ki-Bae, secretary general of the GNP, who called officials of state-owned enterprises "human garbage.")

The debates were hectic, but discretion was practiced. (Officials related to the inter-Korean defense ministers' talks, pointing out that Defense Minister Cho Seong-Tae and his North Korean counterpart Kim Il-Chol engaged in a heated but evenly-matched debate during their talks).