Lee Myung-bak Promises Miracle for North Gyeongsang Province

All the pro-Park Geun-hye lawmakers of the Grand National Party, including Rep. Yoo Seung-min and Rep. Kim Jae-won, participated in a rally held on Monday at the Park Jung-hee Gymnasium in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province.

Park Jong-geun, chief of the GNP`s Daegu chapter, who was also Park’s chief campaign manager for the Daegu area, said, “Please throw your full support behind candidate Lee Myung-bak.” Park received majority support in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province in the primary race.

GNP presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak opened his speech by complementing Park and her father, former President Park Jung-hee. “I will work together with former Chairwoman Park Geun-hye and lead the GNP to power. When I worked as a manual laborer, I dreamed of having a regular job. And it is former President Park who made my dream come true.”

“When I watched former President Park working passionately at the construction site of the Gyeongbu Expressway, I realized that he was a man with a highly pragmatic mind. I vowed to myself that if I become president, I will create a miracle on the Nakdong River by building a road that runs through North Gyeongsang Province, and will ensure that the country takes another leap forward in economic growth,” Lee added.

Meanwhile, GNP Chairman Kang Jae-sub asked Rep. Yoo Jeong-bok, who attended the event on behalf of Park, to join him on the stage, and the two waved together. “I wanted to hold former Chairwoman Park’s hand and wave today, but Park’s Chief Secretary Yoo Jeong-bok is here on her behalf. The content of the original and the copy is the same,” Kang said.

Prior to the rally, Lee Myung-bak visited former President Park’s birthplace and looked at the photos of Park taken during his presidency. Lee said, “Former President Park was enthusiastic in economic development. His knowledge on the construction site was greater than that of the Minister of Construction.”

“Following the miracle on the Han River, I’ll make sure that a miracle happens on the Nakdong River and I will lead Korea in taking another leap forward,” GNP candidate Lee wrote in the visitors’ book. When he was touring Park’s study, he said, “This is where the idea of the New Village Movement (Saemaeul Movement) originated.”

When reporters asked what it was like to visit Park’s birthplace, Lee replied, “Former President Park and I had a special relationship. Although I was arrested and sent to a jail for taking part in student political movements during his presidency, I began to appreciate his achievements while participating in the country’s modernization process through projects such as the construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway, a nuclear power plant and the Busan Harbor.”

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