Choe Byung-ryul Proposed a “Let’s Meet the President and the Representatives of the Four Parties Together” Meeting

Choe Byung-ryul, a representative of the GNP, proposed a meeting to be held on November 11 between the representatives of the four parties and President Roh Moo-hyun. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the current state affairs such as dispatching troops to Iraq, the pending approval of the FTA with Chile, decentralization of power, including the movement of the administration capital, and so on.

Rep. Choe held a press meeting that day saying, “The Assembly passed a bill authorizing an investigation by an independent counsel yesterday. Now, prosecutors will investigate only the presidential election fund, and the independent counsel will probe into the aides of President Roh. Therefore, the political circles will return to normal conditions. Dispatching troops to Iraq is closely connected with the national interest and the representatives of the four parties will discuss this issue with President Roh seriously.”

He added, ”When I met President Roh last time, he proposed that he would set the right course for dispatching troops and then invite the representatives of the four parties to discuss it. After that, the president will persuade the public to agree with the dispatching of troops. I believe it is better for every party to get together in this meeting as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, the Blue House source said, “President Roh clarified his opinions about discussing the dispatching of troops with the representatives of the four parties in the meeting with directors of the four parties. After the scale and the type of troops to be dispatched have been decided, President Roh will hold a meeting with the representatives of the four parties. It will probably be realized after the U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s visit.”

Yeon-Wook Jung Jeong-Hun Kim jyw11@donga.com jnghn@donga.com