Quotations of the day

The low-income bracket and farmers are agonizing under the duress of the "second round of the IMF," but economic ministers are repeating unrealistic reassurances that the situation is still okay. (Hong Il-Hwa, deputy spokesman of the opposition Grand National Party, on Wednesday, calling for the government to make all-out efforts to salvage the economy.)

It is more important for the National Assembly speaker to leave the party from the bottom of his heart rather than secede from the party only in formality, so as to preside over the parliamentary session in accordance with the National Assembly. (National Assembly Speaker Lee Man-Sup on Wednesday, commenting on the insistence that the speaker's power should be strengthened in the wake of the parliament¡¯s failure to deal with the impeachment motions against the two prosecutors.)

It is inevitable to do so, although there are a growing amount of complaints and discontent. (Chief presidential secretary Han Kwang-Ok on Wednesday, asserting that reform is not a matter of choice but survival. He made the remarks in an interview with Yonhap News Agency on the occasion of the second anniversary of his presidential staff's inauguration.)

Government intervention in the exchange rate hikes could spark a liquidity crisis. (Kim Ju-Young, executive director of LG Investment and Stocks, on Wednesday, claiming that the government should not deliberately meddle in the exchange rate fluctuations. His assertion came in a paper titled "Understanding the Foreign Exchange Instability.")