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| President Park Geun-hye speaks during a Cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. / Yonhap |
By Yi Whan-woo
President Park Geun-hye's nomination of Moon Chang-keuk as her new prime minister Tuesday comes as part of an effort to win public trust and accelerate government reform, according to analysts.
Park's choices of her Cabinet members in the past were disputed because several of them were political confidants, former bureaucrats or judges.
But Moon, a former journalist, may avoid such criticism and also demonstrate the President's will to root out entrenched bureaucratic practices, the experts said.
"I'd say the President's nomination of Moon is refreshing considering he has a background in journalism, not in politics, bureaucracy or the courts," said Yoon Hee-woong, the head of Min Consulting, a public opinion research firm. "He will be effective in communicating with the people."
Choi Chang-ryul, a politics professor at Yongin University, said the prime minister nominee will be crucial in monitoring the President as well as bureaucrats.
"As a former journalist, I believe Moon is used to monitoring and preventing possible abuse of power among government officials. The fact that he has not been politically affiliated with the President also will make his job easier."
Choi added Moon is expected to be endorsed at a National Assembly confirmation hearing to replace Chung Hong-won. Chung already offered to resign, taking responsibility for the government's failures in response to the Sewol ferry disaster in April.
"His columns in the newspaper show he is politically moderate and this will win support from the opposition parties."
However, the experts said his background could also hurt in his efforts to help the President reform the government.
"He knows little about the world of bureaucracy and I doubt whether he can persuade civil servants to fulfill the President's goal," said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.
"He also came from nowhere. And it's possible that the opposition lawmakers will uncover things from his past which might embarrass him."
Yoon echoed a similar view, saying, "It's important for Moon to prove his high ethical standards at the confirmation hearing."
The experts also said Moon, a Cheongju native, will boost Park's efforts to gain public confidence in the Chungcheong provinces.
In the June 4 local elections, the ruling Saenuri Party conceded all of the mayoral and provincial governorship races in the region to the main opposition party, including North and South Chungcheong provinces, and Daejeon and Sejong cities.
The analysts said Park's nomination of Lee Byung-kee, the Korean ambassador to Japan, as the new spy chief will promote reform of the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Lee, a career diplomat, worked as a political advisor to Park during the 2012 presidential election.
"Lee will serve as a conservative spy chief while carrying out reforms at the NIS as the President intended," Yoon said.
"His predecessor, Nam Jae-joon, was involved in a dispute about his military background. Lee will be free from such a dispute," Choi said.
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