Vice is nice

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Vice is nice

Posted : 2011-01-27 19:11

Updated : 2011-01-27 19:11

Knowledge Economy Minister
Choi Joong-kyung

Ex-vice finance ministers rise to bureaucratic cream of crop

By Kim Tae-gyu

Those who want to succeed at Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group are supposed to start their career at Hyundai Mobis since the car part producer offers so much to the group’s top executives.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) is to the Seoul government what Hyundai Mobis is to the automotive conglomerate. In particular, that seems to be the case for vice ministers of strategy and finance.

Choi Joong-kyung, former senior presidential secretary for economic affairs, took the helm at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, one of the most significant ministers, on Thursday despite disputes over his confirmation hearings.

Choi was in charge of coordinating various economic policies as the first vice finance minister in 2008 when President Lee Myung-bak took office. Then, he served as Seoul’s ambassador to the Philippines before taking the role of presidential secretary.

Financial Services Commission Chairman
Kim Seok-dong

Included in other high-profile beneficiaries of the year-end cabinet reshuffle were Financial Services Commission leader Kim Seok-dong and Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Dong-soo.

The former was the immediate predecessor of Minister Choi as the last first vice finance minister under the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration while the latter succeeded Choi.

In other words, the three all held the crucial post in the order of Kim Seok-dong, Minister Choi and Kim Dong-soo. The results: all of them now serve as cabinet members.

``The first vice finance ministers are comparable to the human brain ― they oversee all the economic policies. Without them, the economic frameworks are not likely to work properly,’’ a senior bureaucrat said.

``Only those with competency and great physical stamina can manage the tall tasks. Hence, it is understandable that erstwhile first vice finance ministers are preferred. It is unusual for three of them to take minister-level jobs at the same time.’’

A pair of vice ministers support finance minister, currently Yoon Jeung-hyun. The first vice minister directs economic policies while the other one looks after budgets and accounting.

``In fact, the era of vice finance ministers was heralded by Kang Man-soo, who led the MOSF from the outset of the incumbent administration,’’ the official said. ``As the surge of vice ministers continue, people are half-jokingly betting on the future of the current first vice finance minister, Yim Jong-ryong.’’

Kang was vice finance minister in the late 1990s when the country struggled due to the Asian financial crisis.

After spending 10 years at state-backed agencies or a think tank under the so-called left-wing governments through 2007, the confidante of President Lee came back with great fanfare as Minister of Finance and Strategy in 2008.

His policies generated controversy with regard to such issues as foreign exchange rate. Kang purportedly hoped to have the domestic currency depreciate against the green back so that made-in-Korea products retain price competitiveness in dollar-denominated terms.

But such an approach wreaked havoc on Asia’s fourth-largest economy when the global downturn hit in late 2008. Victims of derivative products aligned to the exchange rate also attacked Kang. He eventually quit in early 2009 to be succeeded by today’s Minister Yoon.

The 65-year-old still holds several significant roles as a special advisor for the Economic Affairs Office of the President and the leadership of the Presidential Council on National Competitiveness.

voc2000@koreatimes.co.kr