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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, October 12, 2003

ROK gov't struggles to get state affairs on normal track

After experiencing a political turmoil on Saturday morning, the South Korean government tried to get the state affairs on normal track.


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After experiencing a political turmoil on Saturday morning, the South Korean government tried to get the state affairs on normal track.

Earlier Saturday, South Korea Prime Minister Goh Kun and all the other cabinet members along with 13 presidential senior secretaries submitted resignation to President Roh Moo-hyun.

However, Roh turned the resignation petition down firmly in an emergency press conference, demanding the cabinet and his aides to stay in their position especially when he was considering a civic confidence vote over him.

It was the biggest turbulence in South Korean political area in this year, which occurred only 10 months after Roh assumed his presidential position.

Roh Moo-hyun on Friday made an abrupt decision, a day after he returned from Indonesia, to hold a kind of national vote to make clear whether his people believe in him. His decision came after one of his close aides, who accompanied him for some 20 years, was found to have accepted bribery from local business SK Group.

Moreover, Roh's supporting rate among local residents nose dived continually to less than 50 percent, due to the stagnant economy, growing unemployment rate, and a number of government officials' scandals as well as disorder in political field.

After Roh's rejection on the resignation, cabinet ministers held a meeting to discuss how to cope with the situation and agreed to manage their respective affairs with "deep responsibility," according to South Korean government spokesman Cho Young-dong.

In an attempt to ride out the current political turmoil, Premier Goh Kun plans to hold a back-to- back meetings Wednesday with parliamentary speakers and chief policy-makers of the four major parties to appeal for their support in passing several bills and to consult on deliberations for a supplementary budget and next year's budget.

A supplementary budget worth 3 trillion won (2.61 billion US dollars) to cover the human and property losses caused by Typhoon Maemi last month still need endorsement in the National Assembly.

In the wake of South Korea's sluggish economic growth and national division over the dispatch of combat troops to Iraq, the government also planned to hold negotiations among related departments.

Roh's Senior Secretary for National Security Ra Jong-il now is in Japan for discussion with Japanese officials on the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). And he will not halt his trip and is to head for Washington to meet his counterpart Condoleezza Rice, also for consultation over the nuclear issue,

Moreover, South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun is to leave here for Pyongyang for the 12th Inter-Korean Ministerial Meeting on bilateral issues.

Public servants in economic-related ministries also expressed their will to do their best to carry on their duty.

Officials at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said in unanimous voice that "government officials should stand firm" in order to prevent state affairs from being left stranded.

"Although there is fear and embarrassment (following President Roh's announcement of his bid to ask for reaffirmation), the prevalent view inside the ministry is that public servants should not be disturbed in carrying out their duty," a senior official said.

Officials at the Construction and Transportation Ministry gave a similar response, vowing they will put forward their best efforts to help carry out state affairs without a hitch.


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