By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
Former presidential candidate Rhee In-je, lawmaker of the tentatively named Centrist United Democratic Party, announced his ``third'' bid for the presidency Thursday.
Rhee was defeated by former President Kim Dae-jung in the 1997 election and was beaten by President Roh Moo-hyun at the primary of the now-defunct Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) in 2002.
In a statement, he said that radical reformists had led Korean society into the doldrums and worsened the livelihood of low-income people. ``I will return hope to the country by steering it with middle-of-the road reform.''
He pledged to share the power of the central administration with the National Assembly and provincial governments if elected president.
He also vowed to make the country one of the world's best countries for corporate investment activities and to upgrade the engagement policy toward North Korea.
Rhee, a former labor minister as well as Gyeonggi governor, vied with Lee Hoi-chang of the Grand National Party (GNP) for the GNP's ticket to run in the 1997 election, but left the party after losing the competition.
Later, he joined the MDP and competed with Roh to be the party's presidential candidate in March 2002 and lost again. Rhee left the MDP and joined the now-dissolved United Liberal Democrats led by former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil in December 2002.
Born in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, Rhee was first elected to the National Assembly in 1988.