SEOUL, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- South Korea's leader said Thursday he was ready to transfer his presidential powers if the opposition party agreed on a coalition government.
"I will consider relinquishing all of my power if the opposition parties asked for it because of the difficulties involved in forming a coalition," President Roh Moo-hyun said.
Appearing on a night television program by state-run KBS to mark the midpoint of his five-year term, Roh urged the major opposition Grand National Party to comply with his call for reshaping the country's landscape tainted by deep-seated regional rivalry and corruption.
"The greatest policy goal in the second half of my tenure should be changing the political culture and achieving national unity. I will focus on this during the latter half of my tenure," Roh said.
Opposition parties dismissed Roh's proposal as a political maneuver aimed at avoiding criticism for the mishandling of state affairs and the prolonged economic slump that has lowered his approval rating to less than 30 percent, according to recent public surveys.
"There is no political conspiracy behind the coalition proposal," Roh said at the meeting. He said he saw a need to discuss "whether it is right for a president with 29 percent of approval rating to continue to run state affairs."
Critics say the 2-1/2 years since the human right lawyer took office as the country's president have been marked political chaos and social conflict. But Roh's supporters say he has moved South Korea from an "authoritarian" order to a democratic society.
Roh, who was elected in late 2002, leaves office Feb. 25, 2008.
