By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak Thursday called for unity of the ruling camp to overcome economic and political hardships, saying he will work closely with the new leaders of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) to ``win the hearts of people.''
``We are now facing a lot of internal and external challenges. We should come up with policies that can move people,'' Lee said at a luncheon meeting with GNP Chairman Rep. Park Hee-tae and other party leaders at Cheong Wa Dae.
Lee praised Park on his efforts to open the National Assembly, which had been adrift for over 40 days as opposition parties boycotted sessions to protest Lee's controversial decision to resume U.S. beef imports.
The 299-member legislature opened Thursday after the GNP accepted the main opposition Democratic Party's demand to revise a local law on livestock diseases and start a parliamentary probe into the April 18 Seoul-Washington beef deal.
``I'm happy to hear that the Assembly has been back on track,'' Lee said.
Park replied, ``I will make all possible efforts to unite the GNP and smooth policy coordination between the party and the government.''
It was the first meeting between Lee and the party leaders since Park, 70, a former Vice Assembly Speaker, was elected GNP chairman at the party's national convention on July 3.
The President invited Park, GNP floor leader Rep. Hong Joon-pyo and Rep. Chung Mong-joon, a member of the party's decision-making Supreme Council, to his office and had a meal together.
Chats and discussions continued in a pleasant atmosphere for about two hours, Cheong Wa Dae said.
After the lunch, Lee had a one-on-one conversation with Park for about 20 minutes.