Standoff deepens over President Roh`s choice as NIS chief

The standoff between the president and the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) further deepened over President Roh Moo-hyun`s appointment of Ko Young-koo as the nation’s intelligence chief.

At a gathering with reporters at party headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, GNP’s acting chairman Park Hee-tae called on President Roh to withdraw his appointment saying that the president’s judgment reached a dangerous watershed.

He also expressed concern that the appointment of Ko was part of a scenario for appointing only reform-minded figures to important posts.

The opposition party acting chief said that they would not be able to overlook the president’s personal attacks on National Assembly Intelligence Committee members, and requested that the president explain publicly his rationale for the move.

However, GNP`s acting chairman said that they would not connect their disagreement on the floor of the appointment with the budget bill, but that they would pursue revision of the personnel hearing law so that lawmakers could show their approval or disapproval of appointments to the nation`s big four offices; these include chiefs of the National Intelligence Service, Public Prosecutor`s Office, National Tax Office, and the National Police Agency.

"Because the extraordinary parliamentary session ends soon, we are considering convening another short-term extra session in the National Assembly in May and we are also considering adoption of a resolution for recommending his dismissal if necessary," the acting chairman said.

Cheong Wa Dae, however, is not budging.

"The president’s remark that the parliamentary committee was overstepping its authority is not related to the committee’s decision of finding Mr. Ko suitable for the post,” said Moon Jae-in, senior secretary for political affairs. “The president made the remarks because the committee rejected any extra discussion on the president’s decision to appoint Ko as NIS chief."

"If the opposition party tries to infringe on the president`s sole right to appointment by revising the hearing law because they don`t like the choice, this is arrogance on the part of the majority party," Min Young-sam, vice spokesman of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party said in a statement.