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Park urges team not to be overambitious


By Lee Joo-hee


President-elect Park Geun-hye on Monday called on her transition committee members to focus on assessing the problems in state affairs instead of releasing new policies for a successful handover of government.

“It is important not to repeat the errors of the past in order to open the era of people’s happiness,” Park, who presided over the transition committee’s first plenary session, was quoted as saying by spokesman Park Sun-kyoo.

During the meeting, the president-elect said that the current situation of massive change in the global economic environment and international relations meant that the "wrongful practices of the past" should not be repeated.

“In order to do that, an accurate diagnosis is more important than anything else, based on which we could start the new plan,“ Park said, emphasizing that the success or failure of the transition committee would be whether they could bring forth the diagnosis and the solution.

The transition team comprised of nine subcommittees was officially launched Sunday amidst lingering criticism by the opposition Democratic United Party over its“belated and politically-biased” personnel appointments.

As Park sat before tens of members comprised of professors, experts, politicians and aides, she urged them to refrain from causing confusion by releasing premature policies as had frequently been done by past governments.

Park also called on them to pay attention to curbing social anxiety caused by weakened legal order and transforming the global crisis into an opportunity.

Emphasizing that her state administration will pivot around people’s stability and economic revival, Park said the “era of people’s happiness” will only come when the people can feel relieved.

Following the general gathering, each nine subcommittees convened their meetings in the afternoon. Park’s next schedule was expected to be hearing reports from each government organization.

With regard to the launch of a roundtable gathering between leaders of all sides, as pledged by Park during the presidential campaign, her spokesman said discussion was under way.

Park Sun-kyoo said, “We plan to seek cooperation for the opposition party to be able to join us as soon as they are ready by leaving the door wide open.”

Other agenda discussed during the meeting included Park’s emphasis on restoring social trust, implementing policies for the small and mid-sized companies, breaking the egotism between government organizations and creating the social capital to needed to become an advanced nation, according to the transition team spokesman Yoon Chang-jung.

Meanwhile, news reports said the transition committee was reviewing such measures as turning temporary jobs in public sectors to permanent jobs by 2015, or introducing a new tax on foreign currency exchanges to ward off speculative foreign funds, citing unidentified sources.

The main Democratic United Party, for their part, continued to slam Park’s team.

“It is unfathomable that a winner would attempt to break up the ‘honeymoon’ by making not only such closed-off personnel decisions but appointing radically conservative figures,” said DUP floor leader Park Ki-choon at the party’s meeting.

“The transition committee, which sets the direction for the next five years, must not attempt to conquer the people,” he added.

(jhl@heraldcorp.com)