Posted on 08/07/2004 12:10:11 AM PDT by medscribe
Rep. Chung Eui-yong of the ruling Uri Party said Friday the Republican Party of the United States needs to change its traditional practice of inviting only conservative party members to its national convention to be held in New York later this month.
``The tradition of inviting only conservatives is damaging the image of the Grand Old Party (GOP) especially at the present time when the Washington government¡¯s unilateral behavior is causing so many misunderstandings around the globe,¡¯¡¯ Chung, chairman of the ruling party¡¯s international relations committee, told The Korea Times.
In South Korea, the opposition Grand National Party, the archrival of the liberal Uri Party, was exclusively invited to the Republican Convention because the conservative party, led by Chairwoman Park Geun-hye, has membership of the International Democrat Union (IDU), the organizer of the political event in the U.S.
The IDU, formed in 1983, is an international association of more than 80 conservative, Christian democrat and like-minded political parties of the center and center right.
The convention, to be held in New York from Aug. 29 to Sep. 2, is expected to re-designate U.S. President George W. Bush as the Republican candidate for the presidential election in November.
``I am sure that the GOP is not a closed party,¡¯¡¯ Chung said. ``As a ruling party, we have a good relationship with them and we are determined to continue our cooperation with the Republican Party. But, when it comes to the invitation, I think the IDU¡¯s traditional practice runs counter to the trend of the times.¡¯¡¯
The IDU, however, said that the GOP convention is not a government event, and is not supposed to be open to everyone or those with different political bents.
``The International Leaders Program for the convention is a party-to-party event rather than a government event,¡¯¡¯ Richard Normington, IDU Executive Secretary, said in an e-mail interview with The Korea Times. ``This is an important distinction to make.¡¯¡¯
Normington explained that Tony Blair¡¯s Labour Party in the U.K. is not invited even though it is in government and Britain is also a traditional ally, as South Korea is, of the U.S.
Chung, a diplomat-turned-lawmaker, said the Uri Party had hoped to get an official invitation to the Republican Convention and attend it to develop its relationship with parties from other countries.
``But we decided not to accept unless the IDU drops its condition for all the participating parties,¡¯¡¯ Chung said.
He explained that any party that wants to receive an official invitation to the convention should be a member of the IDU, which gives membership only to those who declare that they are conservatives.
Chung flatly denied some media reports in South Korea that Shin Ki-nam, chairman of the Uri Party, had asked some of the Republican Party officials to invite him to the convention.
``He has no intention to attend as he didn¡¯t participate in the Democratic Convention held in Boston late last month,¡¯¡¯ Chung said. ``What we were thinking was to form a delegation of our lawmakers who want to go.¡¯¡¯
In July 2000, the Millennium Democratic Party, then the ruling party of South Korea, dispatched a group of party executives as observers to the Republican Convention, where George W. Bush was selected as the Republican Presidential candidate.
What a nutjob! There is really nothing else to say.....
What conservatives??? Almost all of the speakers are moderates!!!
e-mail address??
They can go right after I get invited.
The idea is to collapse communism's sphere of influence, not expand it. It would be better to destroy North Korea than to let it gobble up South Korea.
He CAN come and SHOULD be allowed to...
all he needs to do is move here legally, register as one of us, support the conservative platform and candidates... and send in lots of money...
hell... our party is open to anybody on the planet who will get their reasoning ability in shape and make a plan to get here and join up with the winning team...
It does strike as somewhat odd that the people who helped to elect a man (President Roh) whose sole basis of support rested on his unstinting anti-Americanism would want to attend a Republican convention.
Where was she last month when the Taxocrats had their convention and invited only commies.
I've spent a bit of time in Korea and have witnessed this sort of behavior in Koreans before.
It is usually due to Kim-Chi overload when drowned with too much Sou Joo. This results in irritable bowel syndrome which can occassion totally irrational outbursts.
How else would you expalin it?
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