President Kim renews commitment to promote foreign direct investment

KOREA Times 2000/05/08

KOREA Herald 2000/04/18

    President Kim Dae-jung attempted yesterday to restore local and international confidence in South Korea's post-election economy.

    "I would like to emphasize that the government will abide by its promises on foreign investment," Kim said in a special address.

    "I have been honoring the promise I made as President to make Korea the world's best place in which to invest, and I will continue to do so," Kim said.

    The President also said that he had instructed economic officials to minimize the effects of the U.S. stock market crash on the local bourse. The volatile Korean stock market suffered its biggest-ever fall yesterday.

    "I will do my best to stabilize the prices, interest rates, foreign exchange rates and stocks that directly affect the daily lives of the public," Kim said.

    Kim read the statement on national television four days after his ruling party was defeated in the parliamentary elections by the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP).

    He claimed that voters chose to make neither his Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) nor the GNP the victor in the elections, and that they issued a verdict that meant the rival parties should cooperate and secure stability.

    The GNP captured 133 parliamentary seats, just four short of an outright legislative majority, compared to the 115 secured by MDP candidates. This has raised concerns that the larger opposition force may impede Kim's economic reform efforts and his reconciliatory approach toward North Korea.

    Kim reaffirmed that the election outcome would not affect the course of his economic policy, which is focused on reforming the financial, corporate and public sectors, resolving labor-related issues and attracting further foreign investment.

    "The government will complete these four major reform programs by the end of this year without fail," he said. Kim added that the government would also forge ahead with efforts to promote a second round of reform in the financial and corporate sectors, increase efficiency in the public sector and privatize public corporations.

    Kim's repeated reassurances were accompanied by an attempt to extend an olive branch to the opposition by calling for dialogue.

    "I would like to take this opportunity to formally propose a summit meeting with Lee in the near future to discuss cooperation, especially on important national issues such as the economy and inter-Korean affairs," the President said.

    Lee and his aides welcomed the proposal, although they warned Kim not to attempt to exploit the planned talks for political purposes.

    Kim said political stability and bipartisan cooperation were especially important because of the inter-Korean summit talks, which are scheduled for June in Pyongyang.

    "This really is a supra-partisan and pan-national issue," he said, stating that the ruling and opposition parties should work together to ensure that the Pyongyang meeting was a success.

    Kim noted that he would not try to solve all outstanding inter-Korean issues in the talks and that he would be unable to do so. "I will also think about what the future government is to do," he said.

    The President said economic cooperation, the establishment of a permanent peace, the reunions of separated families and the creation of standing joint bodies would be the key issues in his promotion of the talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

    Kim said the Seoul government would continue to provide humanitarian aid to the North and promote inter-Korean economic cooperation.

    "We expect that there will be substantial economic cooperation with the North at the government, private and international levels and that this will have a positive effect on the South Korean economy," he said.

    Touching on domestic politics, Kim confirmed that the MDP would once again try to seek a legislative alliance with its former coalition partner, the United Liberal Democrats (ULD).

    Despite the repeated denials of Kim's aides, there is rampant speculation that the MDP is already approaching the ULD, which secured 17 seats in last week's elections, to make up for its legislative weakness. Kim's top political aide at Chong Wa Dae, Namkung Jin, secretly met ULD founder and former prime minister Kim Jong-pil one day after the elections, ruling party sources said.

    Any attempts by the MDP to regroup the political parties could wreak havoc on the budding atmosphere of reconciliation between the MDP and the GNP, analysts said.

    They said political tensions could be further aggravated by the ongoing investigations targeting politicians suspected of violating the election laws and committing other misdemeanors. The GNP has expressed concerns that these probes are discriminating against opposition members.

    While trying to placate the opposition with his proposal to meet with Lee, President Kim made it clear in yesterday's statement that the government would ensure "that speedy and fair investigations" are conducted on politicians who are suspected of violating election laws and whose sons allegedly dodged military service.

    Kim said that these probes were part of the government's efforts to make Korea a corruption-free society and that political discrimination was not an issue.

    Kim also said that he would continue to promote reforms in domestic politics. The government will promote the early legislation of a human rights act and an anti-corruption act, and amend political and election-related laws, he added.

by Chon Shi-yong Staff reporter