Former PM Could Launch New Party

Former Prime Minister Goh Gun made a remark that seemed to suggest he was willing to establish a new political party at a general meeting of the sponsors of the research group “Future and the Economy” at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul yesterday.

The event was attended by 136 leaders from the academic, economic, media, and civic groups. Future and the Economy is a research group with direct links to Goh . Goh is group sponsor along with many of his close friends.

Goh and Lee Se-jung, former chairperson of the Korean Bar Association and member of the so-called “Dongsoong Forum,” are co-chairs of the establishment preparation committee. The group is relatively young, with 60 percent of the sponsors in their 40s and 50s. Future and the Economy will hold an establishment meeting and symposium on February 13. The group already has an office in Seoul. Hence, the predictions that this group would ultimately go down as a think tank for Goh.

Yong-Gwan Jung yongari@donga.com