President Placates Southwestern Residents
By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
President Roh Moo-hyun Thursday vowed to present a concrete project for the development of the nation's southwestern region, to residents in South Jeolla Province called the Honam region.
``The government will announce a comprehensive development plan for Honam _ especially for Muan, Mokpo and Sinan _ by the end of the year,'' he said in his speech to celebrate the opening of the Muan International Airport and the Muan-Gwangju Expressway.
Sources said the project will be unveiled before the Dec 19. presidential election.
The number of visits by Roh to regional cities nationwide has notably increased over the past few months and his remarks and messages before regional residents have become longer and somewhat political.
On Thursday alone, he visited two Honam cities _ Muan and Naju _ for about five hours and encouraged residents by promising big-scale pledges and painting a rosy picture on the balanced regional development plan.
``Let's make Gwangju-South Jeolla region take the leading role in creating prosperity of Korea by achieving the goal of developing the country's southwestern region,'' Roh said.
He also stressed that a variety of businesses are being pushed in the province, mentioning ``the triangle axis'' involving Gwangju-Naju, Yeosu-Gwangyang and Muan-Mokpo.
In his meeting with dignitaries at a resort in Naju, Roh said he believes the era of Honam will come, adding, ``Now the alienation of Honam during past years has been overcome. Changing the political environment will be an opportunity for Honam.''
Roh also said he hopes the ``Renovated Naju City,'' which saw its groundbreaking Thursday, to bring about a momentum advancing to the new era.
While Roh was talking with Honam residents, Chung Dong-young, the presidential candidate of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) is suffering low support among voters.
Though Chung is leading in the Honam region, where he was born, in approval rating among several major candidates, it is considered that some of the Honam voters will not support the party any more due to the Roh administration's policy failure.
In various polls, he ranked number three with less than a 20-percent approval rate, following Lee Myung-bak of the main opposition Grand National Party and independent candidate Lee Hoi-chang.
Roh's spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said Chung's low approval rate is irrelevant with voters' evaluation of the incumbent administration.