Lee Hoi-Chang calls for meeting of party heads

The floor leaders of the ruling and the opposition parties resumed their meeting at the National Assembly on Monday as Grand National Party (GNP) president Lee Hoi-Chang renewed his call for a two-party summit for the normalization of the legislature. The two sides reached a broad agreement on convening the top-level talks as soon as the floor leaders succeed in fine-tuning their positions on pending political issues.

The encounter, however, made slow progress as the two parties remained far apart over the re-deliberation of the amendment to the National Assembly Law and the demand for the special prosecutor to look into the Hanvit Bank loan scandal following a parliamentary probe into the case.

Meeting the press at the GNP building in Yeouido, Lee demanded unconditional talks between the two major party leaders to pave the way for the early normalization of the National Assembly and the resolution of urgent economic, inter-Korean and social issues. If President Kim Dae-Jung refuses his request for the top-level meeting, Lee said, the people will not pardon him and the opposition party will resort to any means necessary to continue the current political struggle.

As long as the incumbent government persists in its arrogance and obstinacy, President Kim is bound to lose the trust of the people completely during the second half of his term of office, and a regime rejected by the people has to face an unhappy fate, he added.

Lee, however, avoided giving any specifics regarding his strategies for further protest against the ruling party in case his offer for top-level dialogue is not heeded, saying that he would expect a frank and earnest response from President Kim and his party.