At a National Assembly government question and answer session held Wednesday, covering politics, unification, diplomacy and national security, Grand National Party member Park Sae-hwan asked whether the ruling party thought Roh Mu-hyun's statements concerning the nationalization of major newspapers and closure of the Donga Ilbo were true, and did it see them as a radical, anti-democratic challenge to the constitution. Park said Roh needed to be asked serious questions concerning his views on national security.
Lee Won-chang (GNP) added that some of Roh's supporters were jailed for lengthy periods for aiding the North during the Korean War, and were now propagating socialism disguised by the Millennium Democratic Party's primary campaign.
MDP member Lee Hae-chan responded by saying that former GNP leader lee Hoi-chang's branding of the government as leftist was mimicking the Nazi's agitation tactics in building an ultra-right nationalist system among the middle class, which feared the rapid growth of workers' movements.
Questions were also raised about the corruption scandal surrounding the Kim Dae-jung Foundation for Peace in the Asia-Pacific Region, and Special Envoy Lim Dong-won's Pyongyang visit.
Minister of Unification Chung Sae-hyun said there were no discussions on Kim Jong Il's visit to Seoul during Lim's stay in North Korea.
(Hong Seok-joon, udo@chosun.com)
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