Park quits World Cup post

Park Seh-Jik, president of the Korea-Japan 2002 World Cup Organizing Committee for the Korean side, Thursday bowed to government`s pressure and expressed his intention to resign.

¡°Advisor council members recommend that I reconsider resignation, but I decided to resign for the successful hosting of the World Cup, which is an important national event, holding President Kim Dae-Jung meaning in high regard,`` Park said.

¡°I am going to hand over the job to my successor on Aug. 8, and I think the new president will be able to carry out his business with little difficulty because I think I did my best in preparing the World Cup since I took the post on May 21, 1998.¡±

Park has had a row with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism over his leadership in the committee, and his United Liberal Democrats have asked Minister Park Jie-Won to retain him.

Candidates for Park`s successor include Cho Se-Hyung, a standing advisor for the ruling Democratic Millennium Party, and Lee Hong-Koo, former ambassador to the United States.

Kwon Soon-Il stt77@donga.com