President Lee Myung-bak instructed the Cabinet on Tuesday to conduct extra reviews before announcing important policies, including discussing possible political repercussions, to make sure they do not cause any misunderstanding among the public, an official said.

Lee made the remark during a regular Cabinet meeting, stressing that no matter how good policies are, they can be misunderstood unless their political effects are taken into consideration before any public announcements are made, according to presidential spokesman Park Jeong-ha.

Lee asked ministries to consult the Prime Minister’s Office about important policies in the future.

The remark came as criticism of the government runs high over what would be Seoul’s first-ever military pact with Japan following revelations that the Cabinet approved the sensitive accord in a covert manner, though the spokesman said Lee made no mention of the matter.

The criticism forced Seoul to put off a formal signing of the agreement. On Monday, Lee strongly rebuked officials for mishandling the issue, though he said the pact is still necessary as it is in South Korea’s national interest.

The agreement lays out procedural frameworks on military information exchanges between the two neighboring nations, and is seen as mainly aimed at facilitating intelligence sharing on North Korea, a perennial security concern in the region.

If signed, it will mark South Korea’s first-ever military pact with Japan, which ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910-45. Reaction to the agreement among the South Korean public has been negative due in large part to perceptions Tokyo has not fully repented for its colonial-era wrongdoing. 

(Yonhap News)