I am an editorial writer at The Korea Times, focusing on foreign policy, North Korea and domestic politics. My key areas of interest include North Korea, foreign interference in elections, election integrity, cyberattacks and human rights. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, I served as both Politics Desk editor and Culture Desk editor. During my career, I have reported on the Presidential Office under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Assembly.
Park emphasizes professionalism
President-elect Park Geun-hye enters a small one-room household to deliver a lunchbox to an elderly woman in the underprivileged district of Changsin-dong, Seoul, on Christmas Day, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Kang Hyun-kyung
By Kang Hyun-kyung
President-elect Park Geun-hye is making some unique senior appointments.
Park is different from President Lee Myung-bak, who from the start of his administration was criticized for appointments based on church ties, school connections and hometown networks.
One salient feature about her personnel policy is “once an aide, always an aide.” The President-elect retained former lawmaker Cho Yoon-seon and former KBS reporter Park Seon-kyu as spokespersons for her transition team _ they played the same role during the presidential campaign.
Selections based on merit are another key characteristic of Park’s designation of key post holders.
Park selects people from a pool of experts from all walks of life after reading their resume thoroughly.
The process is so secretive that even people, who are known to be her close aides, don’t know who will be picked until they get a list.
All her aides can do until the final call is guess as there is a lack of information.
Surprises are also a part of Park’s selections.
Her naming of veteran journalist Yoon Chang-jung as her chief spokesman came as a surprise because he had never been previously considered for the position.
Insiders said Park is an avid reader of Yoon’s online columns posted on his blog and tends to underline the parts that she likes most and reads them several times.
The President-elect applied the same criteria when she offered Lee Sang-il, then editorial writer of the conservative JoongAng Ilbo newspaper, a National Assembly seat through the proportional representation system, in March this year.
The job offer came days after she read a column he wrote.
Titled “What makes Kim Moo-sung so special,” Lee said the senior lawmaker, who was once close to Park and later estranged himself from her, deserved admiration.
In the column, Lee, now a Saenuri Party lawmaker, observed Kim’s determination played a role in preventing those who were eliminated in the selections from leaving the conservative party en mass and a split among conservative voters.
The President-elect also prefers politicians who have expertise and extensive think tank experience.
Park selected Rep. Yoo Il-ho as her chief secretary. Before joining the political arena, the second-term lawmaker had worked with the state-run Korea Development Institute (KDI) as an economist. Former lawmaker Lee Hye-hoon and Rep. Yoo Seong-min, who are close to Park, are economists who also worked with the KDI before being elected to the Assembly.