By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
Cheong Wa Dae will gather 60 elderly social leaders as a council to advise President Lee Myung-bak on state policies as early as this month, the presidential office said Monday.
``The council, which will include elderly leaders from all walks of life, will give advice to President Lee on diverse issues,'' a Cheong Wa Dae official said. ``Their opinions will be reflected in forming state policies and finding solutions to social and ideological conflicts.''
Cheong Wa Dae will also select some 50 honorary council members from overseas Korean communities from among those who contributed to the country's development, the official said on condition of anonymity.
A deepening ideological divide has been a major concern for the Lee administration.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology recently requested that textbook publishers correct ``left-leaning'' expressions in textbooks, causing a backlash among some teachers' groups and civic activists.
Last month, the Korea Liberation Association, a group of independence fighters and their descendants, criticized the government for publishing a booklet which they claim degrades their efforts and those of the Provisional Government of Korea, the government-in-exile in Shanghai, China, during the 35-year Japanese colonial period, which ended in 1945.
Candidates for the council's chairpersonship include former Prime Minister Hyun Seung-jong and Kim Nam-jo, a professor emeritus at Sookmyung Women's University. Hyun and Kim served as co-chairmen of a government committee set up last year to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Korea.
The council will hold a general meeting bi-annually. President Lee will participate to discuss pending national issues, Cheong Wa Dae officials said.