Lee Emphasizes Convergence of Ministries as a Global Trend

President-elect Lee Myung-bak commented on the government reorganization plan announced by the presidential transition committee on Wednesday that the convergence is a global trend and the abolishment or merger of the government agencies should be viewed from the people’s perspective in principle.

Referring to the backlash against the reform bill, President-elect Lee on Thursday urged the transition committee to make their utmost efforts and convince both the ruling and opposition parties to ensure the passage of the bill.

President-elect Lee stressed about the close of the Ministry of Unification, which trigged criticism from the United New Democratic Party and the Democratic Labor Party and the Democratic Party, “The Ministry of Unification has played the role of opening inter-Korean relations until today. But now, the North Korean issues should no longer be exclusively handled by a certain ministry. Instead, it should be efficiently handled in accordance to functions at a pan-government level.”

According to the transition committee’s spokesman Lee Dong-gwan, the president-elect emphasized the need of function-oriented reorganization of ministries, saying the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy which will be newly established by integrating the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Energy, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Information and Communication is a good example.

President-elect Lee was quoted as saying the government should play the role of a helper for conglomerates and an active supporter for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

swpark@donga.com