S. Korea's opposition leader calls for crisis experts like Obama's new economic team

SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's liberal opposition leader urged President Lee Myung-bak to sack his economic officials and hire proven veterans to handle the financial crisis, citing a new U.S. bipartisan economic team as a model.

Rep. Chung Sye-kyun, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, called for
a super-partisan crisis management team, like the one U.S. President-elect Barack
Obama established with both Republican and Democratic members for his new
administration.
"My message is, the government should get out of its narrow talent pool,
considering what U.S. President-elect Obama did, and not stick to those who have
already been judged by the people," Chung said in a press meeting.
The opposition has repeatedly called for Finance Minister Kang Man-soo's
dismissal, blaming his early controversial policies like support for a weak
currency, which was meant to boost exports but ended up exacerbating inflation.
Chung called the current economic team "incompetent" and urged the Lee government
to hire experts experienced in tough times like the 1997-98 Asian financial
crisis and Korea's credit card crisis in 2003.
On his recommended list were Lee Hun-jai and Han Duck-soo, who served as finance
ministers in the previous liberal governments of Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.
Chung also proposed that lawmakers return 10 percent of their salaries to share
the burden of the economic crisis.
As their last task left this year, political parties are expected to settle the
2009 budget bill by Dec. 12 after missing the Dec. 2 deadline.
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