Cheong Wa Dae to launch committee on integration, unity

SEOUL, June 23 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office plans to launch a special
committee on social integration next month as President Lee Myung-bak has said
the country needs a fundamental solution to heal its deep divisions, an official
said Tuesday.

"The committee will likely be launched before the end of August," the official at
the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, adding it will consist of some 50
members.
The launch of the tentatively named "presidential committee on social
integration" was previously expected at the end of last year but had been delayed
due to the government's focus on the global economic crisis.
"The social integration committee will work closely with the national
competitiveness committee that is in charge of economic issues to achieve our two
main goals of economic development and social integration," the Cheong Wa Dae
official said.
Social and political divisions deepened following the death of former President
Roh Moo-hyun, who took his own life on May 23 amid a protracted prosecution
investigation into corruption allegations that Roh's supporters say was
politically motivated.
In his biweekly national radio address broadcast last week, President Lee said
the country was still divided by political ideologies and regionalism.
"The bad habit of political strife, in which people unconditionally object to
what the other side says continues to thrive," the president said, calling for
fundamental measures to solve such problems.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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