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.
Prime Minister-nominee fits Park's signature agendas
By Kang Hyun-kyung
President-elect Park Geun-hye’s nomination of Kim Yong-jun as prime minister is a multifaceted card sending key messages about her future government as the nominee’s personal traits fit with Park’s unity agenda.
The nomination reaffirmed Park’s No. 1 rule in selecting her aides: Once an aide, always an aide.
Kim, 75, will become the first head of a presidential transition team to assume the No. 2 post in government, if he is confirmed by the National Assembly.
Before heading the team, the former president of the Constitutional Court worked for Park as a campaign manager during the presidential campaign.
Asking for anonymity, a source familiar with Park and Kim said that the two didn’t know each other well before Park called upon him to join her camp.
“Kim had a good reputation while he served as a judge, then a justice of the Constitutional Court and then head of the court. He was a sincere, clean and credible person and therefore people liked him,” the source said.
After watching Kim during the presidential campaign, Park appointed him to lead her transition team and then the first prime minister of her government.
Kim’s life is a touching human story, making him a towering figure having overcome a variety of challenges in his life.
Born in Seoul in 1938, Kim was raised by a single mother after his father was kidnapped by North Korea during the Korean War (1950-53).
The nominee was stricken with polio when he was young and since then he has been handicapped. He was rejected because of his physical trait when he applied for the nation’s then top Gyeonggi High School. After entering the prestigious Seoul High School, he was admitted to Seoul National University when he was a second year at the high school.
Kim passed the competitive state bar exam when he was a third-year student at Seoul National University, and then began his career as a judge in 1960. He was the youngest when he assumed the post. After experiencing work as a judge in several local courts, he rewrote history in 1988 by becoming the first handicapped person to become a chief justice. Six years later, he was made president of the Constitutional Court.
Due to the above, Park’s nomination of Kim as her first prime minister is likely to send a message for unity.
Earlier the President-elect reiterated that her government would put a priority on diversity. Her appointment of Kim, who is from a social minority group, for the key post backs her remarks.
Hahm Sung-deuk, a professor at Korea University in Seoul, said that Kim’s legal background would also back Park’s commitment to the rule of law and safety as two unyielding values.
Hahm was optimistic about the forthcoming confirmation hearing to screen the nominee’s qualifications and ethics, saying Kim would have no major setback to pass it as he has enjoyed a good reputation.
Meanwhile, the nominee’s birthplace, Seoul, will help Park avoid decades-long criticism facing her predecessors that a sitting president prefers hometown cronies for key posts.
Kim cannot hear well even though he wears a hearing aid. Professor Hahm said this would not be a major problem for him in overseeing the Cabinet if he gets the green light from parliament.