GNP Wary of Summit Effect on Election
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) is struggling to seek ways to cope with possible negative influence on the party in December's presidential election.
The conservative party, which advocates a tougher policy line toward the North, has set up a task force dealing with issues related to the Aug. 28-30 summit, party officials said.
The party, at the same time, criticized the ulterior motive of holding the summit ``in an inappropriate time and place,'' accusing President Roh Moo-hyun of using the summit to give his preferred candidate a boost in the polls.
``We don't oppose the summit now but want to point out problems regarding the summit, such as the timing and place,'' GNP chairman Rep. Kang Jae-sup said during a meeting of senior party members.
``The government has strongly rejected suspicions about a second inter-Korean summit. But it suddenly announced the summit schedule and notified us just an hour before the announcement,'' Kang said.
The party also criticized the government's lack of preparedness for the summit and urged it to focus on resolving the North's nuclear issue during the meeting, not taking heed of Pyongyang's demands like the abolishment of the national Security Law and the redrawing of the Northern Limit Line (NLL).
``The summit should produce tangible results on the issues of repatriation of South Korean prisoners of war and those kidnapped by the North, and improvements of human rights,'' party floor leader Rep. Kim Hyung-o said. ``The president should not use the summit as a photo opportunity.''
Rep. Chung Hyeong-keun, a former senior official of the National Intelligence Service, raised suspicion that there was an under-the-table deal between South and North Korea.
``I suspect there was a political deal such as South Korea's provision of a light-water reactor for North Korea,'' said Chung.
Rep. Kim Jung-hoon, a member of the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee, said Cheong Wa Dae might have promised some $10 billion in loans for the Kim Jong-il regime as part of social overhead capital (SOC) investment.