Park’s inaugural will draw record 60,000

Kim Jin-sun, chairman of President-elect Park Geun-hye’s inauguration preparatory committee

A record 60,000 people will be invited to Park Geun-hye’s presidential inauguration ceremony at the Nation Assembly square in Yeouido on Feb. 25, a top aide said, Sunday.

About 3.1 billion won has been allocated for the ceremony, with the amount reflecting yearly inflation from the incumbent President Lee Myung-bak’s inauguration five years ago.

Half of the participants will be selected by draw from among ordinary citizens who apply on the Internet. The United States is the first country that has revealed its intention to send a high-powered delegation.

Kim Jin-sun, the chairman of the inauguration preparatory committee, said in a briefing, “We are planning to hold a memorable ceremony in which various citizens from all walks of life can participate.”

The briefing was conducted at the Korea Banking Institute building in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.

Kim added that such a plan is in line with President-elect’s political philosophy and vision that stresses national unity.

“In order to convey the message for national unity, we will invite people from all walks of life, regardless of region, generation or social stratum,” Kim said.

Kim is also head of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics Organizing Committee.

In 2007, a total of 45,000 people were invited to President Lee Myung-bak’s inauguration ceremony ― among those, 25,000 were ordinary citizens.

The chairman said, “We will receive applications from 12 p.m. on Monday to Jan. 27 through the transition team’s website.”

He added that the team will accept mail applications as well.

Kim stressed that one of the considerable changes for the upcoming Inauguration Day is the selection of an event agency.

“We will entrust a minor enterprise with the task to manage the event,” he said.

In the previous ceremony including those for the late Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, and President Lee, a large-sized advertizing firm, the affiliate of a conglomerate, was in charge of managing the event.

As the 60-year-old President-elect has consistently emphasized that she will boost small- and medium-sized enterprises, she chose an independent medium-size company “Yonhanaro Communications,” after giving the smaller businesses the opportunity to make a presentation.

“We earmarked 3.1 billion won in consideration of inflation five years from 2007’s ceremony for President Lee. But we don’t intend to spend all the money. We are trying to save some,” the aide said asking for anonymity.

“We will do our best to make the ceremony a meaningful occasion,” he added.

Also, an additional team will be established to deal with Park’s inaugural address. <The Korea Times/Jun Ji-hye>