hankyoreh

By Hwang Joon-bum

On July 15, President Lee Myung-bak went ahead with his nomination of Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Kwon Jae-jin for the position of justice minister, despite strong opposition from parts of the ruling party and from opposition parties. Lee also appointed Han Sang-dae, head of Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, as his candidate for the position of prosecutor general. Kwon, originally from Daegu, is a graduate of Seoul National University, while Han is a native of Seoul and a graduate of Korea University. In other words, Lee has forcibly appointed one figure from his own home region and another from his alma mater.

The appointments were officially announced at 4 p.m. by Senior Presidential Secretary for Public Relations Kim Du-woo, four hours after the end of a general meeting of Grand National Party (GNP) lawmakers about Kwon’s prospective appointment as justice minister. Lee outwardly appeared to be listening to the opinions of the GNP leaders for the two or three days after July 13, but his conclusion was unchanged.

“How can the GNP say that Kwon’s appointment as justice minister is all right after it opposed Roh Moo-hyun’s attempt to appoint his senior secretary for civil affairs, Moon Jae-in, as justice minister?” asked GNP Lawmaker Chung Doo-un at the general meeting. “Such appointments are a burden to the party and increase distrust of politicians.”

Democratic Party floor leader Kim Jin-pyo said at a party meeting, “The president’s attempts to fill his judicial line-up with close associates that will be in office during next year’s general and presidential elections reflects an impure intention to throw neutrality out of the window and create a playing field favorable to the ruling party.”

The fact that the president has forced through these appointments despite such hostile opinion is because he feels he has to fill his judicial line-up with “people he can trust to get on with it” in order to minimize the lame duck phenomenon, loss of authority, at the end of his term in office.

The Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) has explained that Kwon and Han are “well-qualified for the job,” but not even Cheong Wa Dae officials deny that the criteria for being “well-qualified for the job” are “loyalty” and “intimacy.”

Kwon has worked as senior secretary for civil affairs for almost two years, since September 2009, earning the trust of President Lee. Criticism, however, is being concentrated more on the fact that he comes from the same hometown First Lady Kim Yoon-ok, than on Kwon himself. Kwon was Kim’s junior by seven years at Suchang Elementary School in Daegu, and ties have existed between their families since they were young. This is the background to the doubts that have been raised as to whether Kwon, if placed in charge of a key ministry, will be able to maintain impartiality in cases of corruption among close presidential associates toward the end of Lee’s term in office, or during the general and presidential elections. Cheong Wa Dae has brushed off comparisons with the abortive nomination of Moon Jae-in as justice minister five years ago according to the simplistic logic that “Cheong Wa Dae secretaries and government ministers are all no more than advisors to the president.”

Regarding the background to Han’s nomination as prosecutor general, officials in the prosecution service all pointed to the fact that he was Lee’s junior at Korea University. Han has made a relentless rise through key positions since Lee took office, including head of the Ministry of Justice’s Prosecution Service Division and head of Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office. He is known to be acquainted with Lee through Korea University alumni gatherings. “As far as I know, Lee was wondering whether to appoint a prosecutor general from Daegu or from Korea University, and decided on Korea University because of concerns that someone from Daegu might side with former GNP leader Park Geun-hye [who comes from Daegu],” said one official from the Prosecution Service.

Han was one of two final contenders for nomination as prosecutor general, along with Cha Dong-min, head of Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, but Han was the overwhelming favorite all along, according to officials at Cheong Wa Dae and in the prosecution service.

It appears that dissatisfaction on the part of Cheong Wa Dae over poor results and institutional instability under justice minister Lee Kwi-nam (a native of Jangheung, South Jeolla Province and a graduate of Seoul National University) and former prosecutor general Kim Joon-gyu (a native of Seoul and a graduate of Seoul National University), also caused Lee to be all the more insistent on the recent appointments.

“The idea of the combination of Kwon Jae-jin as justice minister and Han Sang-dae as prosecutor general is quite an old one,” said one Cheong Wa Dae official.

Regarding opposition on the part of some ruling party figures, Kim Du-woo stated, “We judged that there was no great problem.”

However, difficulties are expected at parliamentary hearings for both appointments scheduled late this month or early next month.

The chairman of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, which is in charge of the hearings, is Democratic Party lawmaker Woo Yoon-keun.

“Since candidates for the positions of justice minister and prosecutor general do not require the agreement of the National Assembly, the president can appoint them even if their appoint hearing progress reports are not passed,” said a Cheong Wa Dae official.

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