President Park Geun-hye on Friday called on the leaders of the five constitutional bodies to support the government’s efforts to revitalize the economy, stressing the nation should be united to pull off another “economic leap” forward.
Park invited National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa, Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae, Constitutional Court President Park Han-chul, National Election Commission Chairman Lee In-bok and Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo to Cheong Wa Dae to explain the outcome of her recent trip to the Middle East and secure their support for her economic initiatives.
“I call on and expect you to play a great role in mustering up everyone’s strength and minds to achieve another economic leap forward,” she said in discussing the achievements her government made during her trip to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar from March 1-9.
“For the ‘second Middle East boom’ to help our economy to leap forward, we need to make good internal preparations,” she added.
Chief Justice Yang praised the outcome of Park’s trip, saying it would serve as a crucial opportunity to reinvigorate Korea’s economy, and strengthen trust with the strategically crucial nations in the Middle East.
It was the first time Park invited the five leaders to detail the outcome of an overseas trip. The meeting came before she is to meet Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung and New Politics Alliance for Democracy leader Moon Jae-in next Tuesday to discuss the results of the Middle East tour.
During Park’s trip, she and Korean business leaders accompanying her focused on diversifying cooperation with Middle Eastern partners in preparation for the “post-oil era.” The resource-rich nations exhibited their interest in cooperation with Korean firms in various areas including information and communication technology, medicine and health care.
South Korean firms signed a total of 44 deals ― worth 1 trillion won combined ― with some 260 business partners in the region on cooperation in infrastructure construction and other economic sectors.
Another achievement for Park was the agreement with Saudi Arabia to seek opportunities to build more than two small and medium-sized nuclear reactors in the Gulf nation ― projects that may be worth as much as $2 billion.
By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)
