Presidential hopeful calls for S-N coalition

Park Joon-yung

Park Joon-yung, a presidential contender of the main opposition party, has expressed his desire to form a coalition government with North Korea, should he win the upcoming presidential election.

“I believe South and North Korea will be able to enter the first stage of unification on the assumption that the two seek economic cooperation with full-fledged dialogue in the process,” the former South Jeolla Province governor said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.

Park indicated that he would uphold the pro-engagement Sunshine Policy adopted by the late President Kim Dae-jung for whom he served as chief press secretary and spokesman at Cheong Wa Dae.

In an effort to bring about unification, the presidential contender of the Democratic United Party (DUP) said the South Korean government should undertake the initiative to resume bilateral talks without preconditions and help the reclusive North stand on its own two feet.

“Above all, we must engage in sincere dialogue and after that resume South Korean tours to Mt. Geumgang in the North,” the journalist-turned politician said, adding that the South should establish a diplomatic mission in Pyongyang and the North in Seoul.

“I also plan to provide North Korea with infrastructure to make it become self-sufficient, though the provision of food aid would be necessary in the initial stage.”

However, he noted that the two Koreas should remain as sovereign entities and respect each other’s political systems in the early stages of any coalition government.

“I believe diplomatic and military matters should be left to the discretion of two separate entities,” Park said.

The DUP hopeful also stressed that he would prioritize supporting the country’s farming and resource-based industries and easing the financial burden of education on students.

“My second most important commitment will be promoting better food security,” he said, noting that the South’s food self-sufficiency rate is only 27 percent. “We are living in fear because a food war is being waged across the world.”

Park added that he will seek to provide scholarships amounting to half of college tuition fees to all students whose family’s income is below the national average and offer student loans at an interest rate of 1 percent.

He became a provincial governor in a 2004 by-election and was reelected both in 2006 and 2010.

Park began his career as a journalist at the JoongAng Ilbo in 1972. He served as press secretary and spokesman for the Kim administration in 1998 and 1999. He became the minister of the Government Information Agency in 2001.

Eight candidates, including Moon Jae-in, former presidential chief of staff in the late former Roh Moo-hyun administration, have registered to run in the party’s primary to become the final contender against the conservative rival in the Dec. 19 presidential election.

The DUP plans to select five finalists for its presidential primary by the end of this month in an effort to increase the competitiveness of its candidates.

Park said that he is confident to be selected as one of the finalists as he enjoyed strong support from regular people for whom he demonstrated an ability to improve their lives and increase jobs during his term as governor. <The Korea Times/Lee Tae-hoon>

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