“It Was Very Un-Presidential”

The controversy over President’ Roh’s December 24 statement that a vote for the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) is, in effect, a vote for the Grand National Party (GNP) continues to rage on as the opposition parties are criticizing it as a case of pre-election campaigning and considering lodging a complaint with the National Election Committee.

GNP leader Choe Byung-ryul, speaking through spokesman Park Jin on December 25, said, “President Roh’s remarks are a clear violation of the law and tantamount to pre-election campaigning.” He added, “They were unprincipled statements for a president.” President Roh revealed his willingness to use any means necessary to support the Uri Party in next year’s National Assembly elections although that means he will have to squander national resources.

Choi concluded, “We plan to seek an official National Election Committee interpretation on the legality of his remarks.”

“It is now revealed that President Roh is effectively the campaign commander of the Uri Party for the next year’s elections,” said MDP spokesman Kim Young-hwan, adding, “He attempted to recast the elections as his personal vendetta against the GNP.”

“His remarks were too absurd to even be regrettable,” said Kang Won-tae, the MDP general secretary, adding, “We are reviewing the legality of the president’s statement and will decide whether or not to seek legal action at the central committee meeting scheduled for December 26.”

Countering the criticisms, Yun Tai Young, the president’s spokesman said, “I am having a hard time understanding why what was basically a private conversation at an informal luncheon makes it a legal issue.” He added, “The opposition parties should stop dispute-driven politics.”

“Their attempts at giving a political overtone to a lunchtime chat represent an outdated mode of political thinking,” said Lee Jae-jeong, the chairman of the Uri Party’s general secretary council and added, “The president just stressed to those at the luncheon meeting that they would need a strong resolution to fight regional bias.”

Young-Chan Yoon Yeon-Wook Jung yyc11@donga.com jyw11@donga.com