Park to hold meeting with leaders of ruling and opposition parties

By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye will hold a meeting with the leaders of the three major parties Monday to call for bipartisan cooperation in handling escalating nuclear threats from North Korea, her office Cheong Wa Dae said.

The meeting at the presidential office will be attended by the leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party, the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea and the People's Party -- Lee Jung-hyun, Choo Mi-ae and Park Jie-won, respectively.

It is the first such gathering since the new National Assembly began its term on May 30.

Park is expected to capitalize on the meeting to stress the need for national unity following Pyongyang's fifth and most powerful nuclear test Friday, which she said attests to the communist state's "urgent and existential" threats.

The commander-in-chief is also likely to seek bipartisan support for the planned deployment of a U.S. antimissile system, which she has repeatedly defended as an "inevitable, self-defense" measure.

During a meeting of security and foreign policy officials Friday, Park called for an end to the "political offensive" against the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to the Korean Peninsula.

The leaders of the two opposition parties, Choo and Park, have opposed THAAD, arguing it would further aggravate cross-border tensions and complicate efforts to resolve the decades-old nuclear standoff with Pyongyang.

On the economic front, Park is likely to urge the political leaders to quickly pass economy-related bills and a set of bills on labor reform, which her government has said are crucial to creating jobs and revitalizing the economy.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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