hankyoreh

Prime Minister Chung Hong-won gave a surprise public address on the afternoon of July 8 to announce the government’s plans for state reforms. He talked mainly about forming a pan-national state reform committee, with private sector participation, and drafting a “master plan” for safety reforms by next February. Apart from the obvious questions about the reason for this unscheduled address, it’s hard not to chuckle at the fuss they’re making about “sweeping state reforms” that are really just the same old wine in a new bottle.

The loss of over 300 lives in April’s Sewol ferry sinking was, as the Board of Audit and Inspection confirmed the same day, pretty much entirely the result of the administration’s generally lax and corrupt practices. And the man at the top of this particular pyramid of ineptitude, irresponsibility, and moral hazard was none other than Chung himself. Indeed, he initially tendered his resignation for that very reason. But after the Blue House held him back and began acting as if he hadn’t expressed his intention to resign, he’s come back into the spotlight talking about state reforms. When it comes to irresponsibility and moral hazard, this is truly resetting the bar.

To see the reality of these “reforms,” you need only look to the chorus of “apologies” and “regrets” that poured out of the newly nominated government ministers and NIS director at their National Assembly nomination hearings the second Chung started talking about reforming the civil service. The list includes Lee Byung-kee, nominee for National Intelligence Service director; Choi Yang-hee, the candidate to serve as Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning; and Chong Jong-sup, who was chosen to head the Ministry of Safety and Public Administration. Between them, they’ve admitted to a list of offenses that includes political maneuvering, tax evasion, Farmland Act violations, and forged address reports. The whole point of this state reform push - as the administration itself has said many times - is to break with past practices and root out the “good enough for government work” mentality. Instead of Cabinet appointments, what these nominees should really be getting are prosecutors’ summons for questioning on the violations they’ve already admitted to. It’s turning into a classic bit of dark comedy: first the zombie PM, now the “we‘re so sorry” ministers. And they call this reform.

Meanwhile, we also have Chung pressing the National Assembly to pass a bill amending the Government Organization Act. It all started when the administration came out with a faulty prescription for a disease that hasn’t even been accurately diagnosed yet. Since then, a fierce controversy has been raging over the decision to disband the Coast Guard and establish a new national safety agency. The Blue House and Prime Minister’s Office, for their part, haven’t exactly cooperated with the parliamentary inquiry into the Sewol sinking. The Blue House showed just how serious it is by submitting just 13 of the 269 documents requested by the special committee. It‘s incredible to see the same people who’ve refused to go along with an inquiry aimed at finding out the truth about the Sewol disaster then turn around and insist on the passage of a Government Organization Act amendment that looks to have been slapped together by a handful of people in a back room somewhere.

The administration’s calls for “state reforms” are basically a joke now. The farce extends to the people unsuited to public office who are talking about reforming civil society, the people who want to reform “citizen consciousness” but haven’t changed their own awareness about anything, and the calamitous failure to find a single acceptable candidate to replace Chung as Prime Minister. If the word “reform” doesn’t mean anything to this administration, maybe it should stop throwing it around.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]