[Editorial] Park Geun-hye Should Unveil Her Position On Capital Relocation

The row over capital relocation is driving the nation into chaos. GNP Chairwoman Park Geun-hye, in spite of this, continues to refuse to disclose her position. This is not the way to go as a head of the main opposition party. Last December, when a special bill was passed in the National Assembly with the approval of an overwhelming majority--167 votes in favor, 13 against, and four abstentions--the main opposition Grand National Party was the majority parliamentary bloc. Now, it is time to unveil whether they will stick to their original position or slide in other directions.

If the opposition GNP was more faithful to its role as opposition party and worked hard to monitor the government and ruling party, such perplexity would not have taken place. Undoubtedly, this is deeply rooted in the GNP’s excessive concern over votes from Chungcheong provinces, making it jump to conclusions without considering the nation’s fate. We even feel shame at its saying things like: “Since both legislative and judicial agencies are included this time, we oppose the capital relocation,” because, with whole-hearted support, the GNP passed the very bill that stipulates these two agencies can move to a new capital with the approval of the National Assembly. So this means that the GNP gave the green light to the project without leading even the contents of the bill.

Even worse, questions they raise against the relocation are also disappointing. Rather than tackling practical issues like whether it is a project urgent enough to push ahead with even in exchange for risking the nation’s future, whether it is possible to achieve win-win advancement like balanced local development and economic recovery as the ruling part predicts, or how much money it costs and how to cover them, the question the GNP addressed was just “President said he will hold a referendum for it, didn’t he?

“If you ask a question with the mindset that “the GNP wants to hold the national vote,” then unfortunately the answer remains uncertain. What on earth does the GNP want to do?

Considering GNP Chairwomen Park Geun-hye’s promise to voters in Chungcheong provinces during the last general election campaign, it is not an easy decision for her to make. Nevertheless, it is not proper to delay disclosing her position any longer. Respectable politicians never make the same mistake twice.