Mr. Critic Goes Tough Within Camp
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, chief policymaker of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), went tough Wednesday, calling the government negotiation team's translation mistakes at the beef negotiations with the United States ``very disappointing.''
At a radio program, Lee said his GNP team is now looking to see if the mistake was made by the negotiation group or if the U.S. government failed to keep the promise.
The second-term lawmaker also claimed that the country has the right to take necessary measures to protect public health according to Article 20 of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), and that no governments are in a position to bestow or take the right.
He made the remarks when asked what his view was on U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab's statement made a couple of days earlier.
In her statement circulated to Korean press corps based in Washington D.C., Schwab said the U.S. government ``recognizes that Article 20 of GATT preserves Korea's right to take measures necessary to protect public health, as long as the requirements of that article are met.''
Shortly after the announcement, President Lee Myung-bak welcomed it, saying the U.S. government's clarification helped clear public fears about the safety of American beef.
GNP policymaker Lee, who was reelected in the April 9 National Assembly elections with a big margin, is no stranger to criticism of President Lee and his government which was inaugurated in late February.
He earned the nickname of ``Mr. Critic'' for his opposing views on several key issues.
Since Lee was elected chief policymaker last August, he has expressed his ``independent'' views on major campaign pledges of then GNP presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak such as the cross-country canal project and 7 percent of economic growth.
The lawmaker underestimated the former pledge, calling it ``a construction work.'' He described the latter as ``unfeasible and too rosy."
His comments arouse then GNP presidential candidate Lee's ire.
A GNP source, who declined to give his name, told The Korea Times that Rep. Lee had a bad time with the President for the negative characterization of the President's attached pledges, and he had to remain an onlooker when GNP experts crafted presidential campaign pledges.
Even after Lee Myung-bak won the landslide victory in last December's presidential race, the GNP official expressed his opposite views on other major policy areas such as a competition-oriented education reform plan and most recently the beef deal signed with the United States.
Rep. Lee's reputations are divided: some called him a man who says what he thinks right, while others portrayed him as a divider.
His offensive position on the government's policies led campaign watchers to spurn a speculation in March that he might be eliminated from the GNP's list of candidates to run in the April 9 general elections.
The rumor proved not to be true and he was in. He won the election garnering 78.4 percent of support in his district Daegu.
Mr. Critic said there are several political leaders who depend too much on government officials' expertise on major policies, instead of digging them out with their staff members.
He said it is time to have knowledgeable party decision-makers with their own specialty.