Han Byung-do, acting leader and floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, said Monday he would expand a task force supporting the three mega-projects into a special committee directly under the acting party leader, building a party-wide support system to oversee legislation, budgeting and regulatory reform.
Han made the remarks at a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on Monday morning, calling the mega-projects "a century-spanning national strategic undertaking and a generational task that the government, the National Assembly, local governments and businesses must unite as one team to see through."
He said foreign countries had competed to attract Korean companies with promises of greater support, but the companies chose to invest domestically out of consideration for national competitiveness. "The People Power Party is even using this to stoke long-standing regional grievances and turn it into a political weapon," he said.
Han also questioned whether any citizen would accept the PPP's push to subject corporate investment decisions and the country's growth strategy to a parliamentary investigation and a special prosecutor. "What politics should do is offer bipartisan support, not drag its feet," he said. He urged the PPP to stop obstructing the projects and join what he called "this bold journey," adding that the party would press ahead without delay on follow-up legislation, including a special law on mega special zones, as well as budget support.
sunpine@heraldcorp.com
