hankyoreh

Sept. 29. (Blue House photo pool)

By Kim Jong-cheol, political correspondent

President Park Geun-hye has always called “principle” and “trust” her political trademarks. But those standards have tended to waver when it has come to her nominees for senior government posts, a number of whom have bowed out over allegations of unethical or unlawful behavior. The result has been something of a double standard for Park: on one hand, sheltering loyalists and encouraging them to hold out after serious flaws have been discovered, and on the other urging less pliant people to resign on the flimsiest of pretexts.

Perhaps the best-known case of the former is that of Kim Yong-joon, her first nominee for Prime Minister. Kim, who chaired Park’s presidential transition committee, was tapped as a nominee in January, when she was still a president-elect. When the press uncovered allegations of real estate speculation and his son’s military service evasion, Kim told Park he wanted to withdraw. She urged him to reconsider, blaming the media’s aggressiveness and telling him to “hold out against these kangaroo court attempts to pin unfounded allegations on you.”

Kim finally did announce his withdrawal, and Park was obliged to accept. But she urged him to stay on as head of the transitional committee, which he agreed to do.

She also defended and expressed confidence in other Cabinet nominees who were the subject of allegations. Kim Byung-kwan, her nominee for Minister of National Defense, ultimately stepped down over allegations of address falsification. Lee Dong-heub, a nominee for head of the Constitutional Court, bowed out over allegations of appropriating public funds.

But her attitude was very different when it came to Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook, who recently resigned in protest of a Justice Ministry audit over allegations of his fathering a child in an extramarital affair. After declining to accept the resignation for two weeks, Park finally pushed ahead with the audit, which the Minister of Justice had declared already finished. Her acceptance was also based solely on circumstantial evidence, despite her pledge not to accept Chae’s resignation before the allegations had been proved.

Her explanation was that “the facts have to be brought to light first.” But her actions only fueled speculation that she had chased Chae out in order to suppress the prosecutors who cast doubts on the legitimacy of her election. The leisurely response to his resignation notice contrasted with her prompt acceptance of Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui’s resignation in March over allegations of receiving prostitution services for favors back in March, when many were mentioning him as a strong candidate for Prosecutor General. Many observers are still saying Park’s aim was really to publicly shame Chae.

A similar episode happened with former Board of Audit and Inspection Chief Yang Kun. Park had guaranteed he would be able to serve out his 4-year term, and his abrupt departure after a conflict with the Blue House over board nominations had many suggesting that Yang had been pushed out.

In some cases, most notably that of Minister of Health and Welfare Chin Young, she has put off accepting the resignation of a less docile choice because of the political consequences - but also made it clear that she does “trust” him. The aim has been to tie things up for as long as it takes for the public’s attention to drift elsewhere. When Chin announced he was resigning over revisions to the basic pension plan, Park had Prime Minister Chung Hong-won refuse his resignation and pressure him to remain in his job.

“The fact that she had the Prime Minister reject his resignation - rather that doing it herself as the one with nomination authority - is not a sign of a trust in Chin Young, but an expression of unhappiness with his decision to act independently, and also a warning to him,” a Saenuri Party (NFP) official said on Sept. 29, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“It was basically a pressure tactic, telling him to face the responsibility at least until the regular National Assembly session is over,” the official added.

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