President Roh Holds New Year Press Conference

President Roh Moo-hyun will announce his stand on general state affairs in the New Year in a national and foreign press conference at Chunchugwan on January 14.

It was known that President Roh will emphasize on the significance of the new year marking the turning point of the country’s leap into the GNP USD 20,000 era, thus expressing his will to revive the economy and to pay full attention to the lives of the people.

Cheong Wa Dae Spokesperson Yoon Tae-young said, “President Roh will announce specific policies to revive the economy and to stabilize the people’s lives, and further provide visions for the era of equitable development,” adding, “There are no surprises in the announcement which will mainly involve the people’s lives and the economy.”

Additionally, it was known that the president will ask for the people’s cooperation in the general election in April so that it can be a turning point in the political reform and implore decisions from the political society on improving election district systems to eliminate regionalism.

President Roh will also answer questions regarding the public assessment of the confidence in him, timing of joining the Uri Party, and the corruption of his close aides.

Jeong-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com