ED Cabinet reshuffle

Presidential office should not monopolize decision-making

President Moon Jae-in reshuffled his Cabinet on Thursday, nominating five new ministers of defense, education, labor, trade and gender equality. This marks his first Cabinet shakeup since he took office in May 2017.

Most of all, the reshuffle is designed to keep the momentum for Moon's reform drive alive and produce successful results of his policy goals of creating an equitable and fair society. It is timely and appropriate to nominate candidates for the five Cabinet positions which have come under fire for their policy blunders, poor job performances and failure to win trust from the people.

Moon nominated Rep. Yoo Eun-hae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea as the new education minister, to succeed Kim Sang-kon who has invited criticism from both conservatives and progressives for causing confusion in reforming the college entrance exams.

It is also notable that Moon has decided to sack Defense Minister Song Young-moo who was blamed for mishandling a defense intelligence unit's controversial documents suggesting the declaration of martial law to cope with massive candlelit rallies against then President Park Geun-hye in late 2016.

President Moon picked Jeong Kyeong-doo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a candidate to replace Song. Jeong, if confirmed by the National Assembly, will have a mandate to push for Moon's military reform amid the rapidly changing defense and security situation arising from the inter-Korean detente and ongoing nuclear talks between the U.S. and North Korea.

It is also inevitable for the President to replace the labor minister because his liberal government has failed to create jobs and narrow the income gap between the rich and poor. In addition, Moon chose a candidate for trade, industry and energy minister to regain public confidence in his policy of phasing out nuclear energy.

It is fortunate for Moon's new Cabinet lineup to draw a positive response from the people. However, it appears insufficient to give a much-needed boost to the administration which is suffering from a setback due to Moon's income-led growth policy which has ironically offered fewer jobs and reduced the income of the working poor.

Against this backdrop, changing ministers does not necessarily guarantee the success of President Moon's policies. The presidential office should no longer try to monopolize decision-making and policy-setting processes as seen in the case of the income-led initiative. It must give more authority to ministers, especially economy-related ministers, to work out better policy measures to reinvigorate the sagging economy and improve the living standards of the people.

Everyone knows there has been a feud between presidential policy chief Jang Ha-sung and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon over the ill effects of Moon's inclusive growth policy. The government needs to take a flexible attitude to solve such a feud, rectify policy mistakes and restore public trust.