Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Ahn's selection of 4 aides shows priorities
By Jun Ji-hye
Independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo has selected four aides to assist him in the National Assembly, giving hints that his main focus will be on labor and economic policies during his first term as a lawmaker.
His choice of aides and the process of selection have attracted keen attention as the line-up is regarded as an indicator of where his priorities lie.
The software mogul-turned-politician selected people who mostly worked for his presidential election camp and are specialized in labor and economic policies.
“Lee Soo-bong, a former chief of the Policy Institute at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, was selected as one of his aides,” said Yoon Tae-gon, the former chief of Ahn’s communication team.
Yoon said, “Along with Lee, Shin Hyun-ho, a former chief of Ahn’s policy team, and Joo Joon-hyung, who has been in charge of writing Ahn’s speeches, will assist the first-term lawmaker at the Assembly.” Yoon himself was also named in the aide line-up.
Lee was formerly in charge of Ahn’s labor policies when the latter was bidding for the presidency. Through the selection, Ahn is expected to attempt to push ahead with various policies to guarantee fundamental rights and establish sound labor relations.
Shin contributed to creating policies related to the “democratization of the economy,” along with Professor Jang Ha-sung of Korea University Business School widely known as a “chaebol sniper” for his record of attacking the closed management of Korea's conglomerates.
Just as he did during the presidential poll and the by-election, Ahn seems to be very keen on reforming chaebol and the financial sector.
Joo was the brain behind Ahn’s signature slogan “New Politics Begins.” He previously worked for Olje, a nonprofit publishing corporation formed by Hong Jung-wook, a former lawmaker of the Grand National Party, the Saenuri Party’s predecessor.
By bringing in Joo, who worked with a ruling party lawmaker, into his office, Ahn is signaling that he will not stick to the conventions of either the ruling or opposition parties.
Meanwhile, the former Seoul National University professor has yet to be assigned to any standing committee. This is in contrast to Reps. Kim Moo-sung and Lee One-ku of the Saenuri Party, who were elected in the April 24 by-elections along with Ahn, who have already been named to the Land and Transport, and the Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries committees, respectively.
Ahn is predicted to join the National Policy Committee as it has been the convention for lawmakers elected in by-elections to take over their predecessor’s posts. Ahn’s replaces Roh Hoi-chan, co-chairman of the minority Progressive Justice Party, who belonged to the National Policy Committee.
The delay in committee assignment is because Ahn has an 18.57 percent holding in AhnLab. In principle, a member of the National Policy Committee is not able to hold stock as the committee deals with the Fair Trade and Financial Services commissions.
Ahn is now looking into the possibility of swapping committees with another lawmaker as it is expected that AhnLab investors will oppose any attempt to sell his stocks or transfer them into a blind trust.