 Park Geun-hye of the Grand National Party speaks at a press conference in Athens, Greece, Thursday (KST), saying that she will play a bigger role in next year's general election. / Yonhap |
Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) said Thursday that she would play an aggressive role in next year’s general and presidential elections.
Her remarks came amid growing calls for Park to play a bigger role in getting the ruling party, which was devastated in last week’s by-elections, back on track.
In a meeting with reporters who accompanied her on a trip to three European countries, held in a hotel in Athens, the former GNP chairwoman noted that the root cause of the “crisis” facing the ruling camp is the fact that its members care little about principles and trust.
“Having said that, I think the only way that we can get away from the debacle is to put those values into practice,” Park said. “I was often told that I am stubborn and inflexible. People call me ‘Principle Lady.’ But I think that disputes will be resolved if people remain true to these values.”
Asked about her opinion about South-North Korea relations, the presidential hopeful declined to give a direct answer.
“I understand that the government is working on something to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough. This is what I was told. Therefore I think I had better save my words for now and speak on this, if given an opportunity to later,” said Park.
The former GNP chairwoman embarked on a trip to the Netherlands, Portugal and Greece on April 28 as a presidential envoy.
The press meeting took place on the last day of her trip to those nations.
Analysts say the strong presidential candidate, whose popularity among hopefuls is unrivaled, signaled that she will gear up for her campaign to run in the presidential election to be held next year on the GNP ticket.
In the ruling GNP, Mayor of Seoul Oh Se-hoon and Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo are also gearing up to declare their bids for the presidential election next year.
Oh and Kim returned to Seoul after wrapping up a Washington trip. Presidential hopefuls tend to travel to the capital city of the United States for networking with think tank experts, politicians and other influential figures there as they believe ties with them are an asset to their campaign.
After the ruling GNP was defeated in last week’s by-elections, an increasing number of lawmakers have called on Park to play a more active role as a leader to save the party in the post-election crisis.
Park had remained silent on the requests so far. But her remarks on her role after wrapping up the trip to Europe were construed as meaning that she had decided to respond positively to them.
