By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
Park Hee-tae, the newly elected chairman of the ruling Grand National Party, offered a preview of his leadership Friday during a series of interviews with Korean radio.
Park espoused a closer working relationship between the ruling party and President Lee Myung-bak. He also offered comments on personnel appointments in the Lee government and the ongoing U.S. beef import controversy.
The new party chairman said he envisions the GNP as a ``ruling party that participates and takes a leadership role on national issues, a party that will take responsibility and offer solutions.''
``We don't want to be a political party that just points fingers and criticizes others from the sideline. We want to be a ruling party that offers real solutions,'' Park said during an interview with PBC radio, Friday.
Park said the GNP should offer more help to President Lee so that he can carry out his agenda. Park said he will ask for more frequent talks and closer cooperation between the ruling party and Cheong Wa Dae.
Park spoke out against party factionalism and urged a unified front for the governing party and the Lee administration. He argued that in the previous administration, the lack of a close working relationship between then-President Roh Moo-hyun and his political party had caused significant problems.
``During the Roh administration, the President and his political party went their separate ways, and in the end, President Roh wasn't able to accomplish many of his initiatives,'' Park said.
Park, 70, played a central role in President Lee's election victory last year, having served as Lee's top campaign manager. He also served previously as a lawmaker and National Assembly vice speaker.
In an interview with MBC radio, Park showed little enthusiasm for further reshuffling of presidential aides. There have been some talks recently for possibly replacing more officials, including Strategy and Finance Minister Kang Man-so. But Park said it would be improper at this point to discuss who would stay and who might be replaced.
Commenting on the beef import backlash, the ruling party chairman said the ``case has now come to a close.'' In the PBC interview, he said: ``In regard to the beef controversy, the Lee administration did everything it possibly could. The administration accommodated critics' demands as much as it could. The government really put a lot of effort into this.''
Park also urged opposition political parties to help convene the new legislative session soon. Some GNP lawmakers had suggested that they convene the National Assembly and elect a new speaker by themselves, without the participation of the opposition parties.
But Park said this would not be advisable and urged opposition party lawmakers to help start the new session as soon as possible.
The GNP had won an overall majority of 153 seats in the 299-member parliament in the April election but the new legislature has yet to open.
He also offered a conciliatory comment to Park Geun-hye, former GNP chairwoman and the main political rival of President Lee. He said it is still possible for the former GNP leader to be tapped as the next prime minister. But he cautioned that his party would need to further examine the proper timing for such an appointment.