By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
Parties have rekindled latent regional bias in disputes over the alleged dominance of people from the southeast in appointments to key public posts.
The feud was brought to the fore after Chung Sye-kyun, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), contended last week that a growing number of liberals have been forced to quit key public posts.
His remark was seen as criticizing the Lee Myung-bak administration for driving out government officials who hail from the southwestern Jeolloa region, a stronghold for the DP.
Chung contended that President Lee is dividing the nation by appointing cronies from Gyeongsang Province to key government posts, while officials from Jeolla Province are being pressured into resigning.
Rep. Chang Kwang-keun, the GNP secretary general, hit back at the claim urging Chung to provide concrete information to back his claim.
``There are politicians trying to gain by fanning regional animosity which was used to tear apart the nation in the past. They are committing a criminal act,'' warned Chang.
The DP leader said he received a phone call last week from a person whom he declined to identify, who had been forced to quit his job just ``because he hailed from the southwestern region.''
Chung claimed Jeolla officials are the main victims of job cuts.
``I was told that they had been marginalized in officialdom since President Lee took office last year,'' he said.
The DP chairman added that his party would investigate what was happening and then fight the Lee administration to correct any bad practices.
Chang argued that the DP leader's criticism was ``flawed and groundless,'' urging him to present accurate and credible data to support his argument.
According to the GNP, the ratio of key post holders from Gyeongsang Province in government jobs decreased further under the Lee administration.
The governing party said more officials from Jeolla Province were appointed to high-ranking posts under the Lee administration than under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Rep. Park Joo-sun of the DP, however, rejected the claim, saying Lee's cronies from Gyeongsang Province dominate key government posts.
``Cabinet ministers from Gyeongsang Province account for 36.1 percent, far higher than the 16.7 percent for Jeolla people,'' Park said.
``The situation in 297 state-funded firms is even more serious as the number of heads from Gyeongsang Province is three times higher than that from Jeolla Province,'' he added.
Nine out of 19 senior presidential secretaries (47.4 percent) are from the southeastern region, compared with 10.6 percent for Jeolla people, he added.
In the Korean political landscape, the southwestern region has backed liberals such as Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, and people there are generally regarded as having the same political leaning as the two former presidents.
Likewise, conservative leaders Park Chung-hee, Chun-Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo and Lee Myung-bak hail from the southeastern region, with people in the region being considered to have similar inclinations.