Cheong Wa Dae admits appointment failure

Jul 07, 2021, 09:06 am

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President Moon Jae-in speaks during a Cabinet meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae on July 6, 2021./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Lee Wook-jae

The Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday has publicly admitted the failure of the appointment of Kim Gi-pyo, the former presidential secretary for anti-corruption who resigned three months after being appointed over his real estate purchase controversy. However, observers point out there is no sincere reflection by the presidential office as it has repeatedly reiterated its position that no one will take responsibility for the appointment failure.

Lee Cheol-hee, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, appeared on a KBS radio program and said that Cheong Wa Dae made a mistake in judgment over the appointment. However, he said that there is no reason to put the blame on a specific person.

In the political community, voices are growing that a top presidential secretary-level official should be held accountable for the series of botched appointments. There have been growing calls from both ruling and opposition parties to fire either Kim Oe-sook, senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs, or Kim Jin-kook, senior secretary for civil affairs.

Nevertheless, the Blue House is holding its ground that it is not appropriate to fire a specific person for appointment failures, while improving its appointment system by forming a red team, which attacks weaknesses within the organization. Previously, Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for pubic communication, seemed to blame the limited system, saying, “The current Blue House verification process does not use data from the National Intelligence Service or the prosecution. It will be the same even if the regime change occurs and the opposition comes to power.”

In particular, as Cheong Wa Dae is seemingly defending Kim Oe-sook, who has been in charge of the administration’s human resources management, despite her repeated failures to vet top officials, observers claim that this is largely due to the 30-year-long relationship between her and President Moon Jae-in. Since 1992, Kim worked for a law firm jointly established by Moon and the late President Roh Moo-hyun, in Busan.

“Cheong Wa Dae claims that Kim is not the only one to be responsible for it since the presidential office makes recommendations for appointment while verification process is in charge of a senior secretary for civil affairs. However, the final decision is made by the presidential HR office,” said Kim Hyung-joon, a professor of Myongji University. “If not, the function of the HR office itself went wrong.”

Some analysts say that this situation could lead to conflict between the ruling party and the Cheong Wa Dae since dissenting voices have been raised within the party. Some predict that before September, when the outlines of the presidential candidates are revealed, the ‘party-Cheong Wa Dae separation’ may proceed faster than expected.

Nevertheless, many experts say that the Cheong Wa Dae will stick to its position rather than firing a specific person. “As the presidential race between the ruling and opposition parties have begun, there is no reason for the Blue House to boldly admit its appointment failures and change its position toward human resource affairs,” said commentator Choi Young-il.

#appointment #Cheong Wa Dae #Kim Oe-sook #Kim Jin-kook #Kim Gi-pyo