Leaders need to wake up, manage crisis

While the general public's concern for the overall worsening economic conditions resulting from such adverse factors as high international oil prices and the nose-diving stock prices has hit a new peak, as the government, which should take action, has largely ignored the situation and has been playing political games.

Although the regular session of the National Assembly opened Sept. 1, the ruling and opposition parties have ignored the passage of bills for public welfare, such as the third-quarter budget. Instead the parties have diverted all their efforts toward throwing blame on one another for the gridlock at the National Assembly, causing some to charge that the government is only adding to the worsening economy.

Crisis is all-inclusive:

Experts from various fields have determined that the current crisis is an all-inclusive crisis.

Fear of a second economic crisis is growing, shamefully ignoring the government's proclamation of having successfully steered out of the foreign currency crisis of late 1997, and the trust of the people have been betrayed due to such scandals as the Hanvit Bank illegal loan scandal.

Adding to the fear is the unseen conflict between various political factions jockeying for position as the inter-Korean peace development gets underway.

"During the Chuseok holiday, I noticed that the public sentiment is non-existent," Shon Bong-Scuk, chairman of Center for Korean Women and Politics, said. "The ruling party and the government need to formulate a solution. But their perception of the current situation must be different."

President should show leadership, flexibility:

To relieve the current economic jitters, many experts feel that the government and the ruling party need to take an aggressive stance. Rather than remaining on the level with the opposition party and throwing blame around, they need to widen their vision and scope to acknowledge the request of the opposition party to find a first step in the right direction for the normalization of Korea.

The government should abandon its stubborn stance -- as if any revision of its policy would lead to degradation of authority. It should be open to the possible adoption of counter-measures to become a little more flexible.

"The president should first reorganize the party authorities of the Millennium Democratic Party for the improvement of the situation,¡± a Korea University professor said. ¡°Then by properly dealing with and punishing those involved in the Hanvit Bank scandal, they must regain the trust of the people. Once done, the government needs to carry out its chaebol and financial reforms in order to regain the trust of the foreign investors."

National Assembly must take action:

There are 76 pending bills at the National Assembly. Among these pending bills are many that affect the lives of individual persons such as the financial holding company proposal, the investment corporation for business reform and the minimum wage.

The supplemental third-quarter budget to help the typhoon victims is still pending.

"The Constitution commands the National Assembly representatives to set us aside their tit-for-tat, and to act for the benefit of the Korean nation," secretary-general of the Citizen¡¯s Coalition for Economic Justice Lee Seog-Yeon said. "The ruling and opposition parties must normalize the operation at the National Assembly and stop violating the Constitutional.¡±