Opposition grows over ex-health minister's comeback
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Moon Hyung-pyo
Criticism is intensifying over speculation that the government will soon appoint former Health and Welfare Minister Moon Hyung-pyo as head of the National Pension Service (NPS), just five months after he was sacked for responding poorly in the struggle to contain an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
Pension-related civic groups say they will strongly oppose the appointment if it is confirmed, condemning it as a “parachute appointment,” or a revolving-door appointment. They said that Moon has already shown his incompetence in dealing with state affairs.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Monday, three people applied for the post of NPS chief. Of them, one failed to make it through the document screening process, and the other two, including Moon, attended interviews last week and were both nominated as candidates for the chairmanship.
Under related laws, incumbent Health Minister Chung Chin-youb will soon choose one of them and recommend the selected candidate to President Park Geun-hye, who will then appoint the person.
The new chairman will replace the acting NPS chairwoman Lee Won-hee who has served in the post since former chairman Choi Kwang’s resigned on Oct. 27 after a power struggle with the ministry over personnel reshuffling issues.
It has been widely alleged that Moon applied for the post after an arrangement with Cheong Wa Dae was made.
Civic groups claim that Moon is not qualified for the position.
“Moon was responsible for the spread of MERS that killed 38 people,” an member of the Public Pension for ALL (PPA), a civil group, said during a press conference in Seoul. “And now he is trying to come back to the government.”
The group also said that during his term as minister, Moon denounced the agreement between the ruling and opposition parties to have the pension cover 50 percent of income before retirement, up from the current 40 percent. Moon said at that time that the 10 percentage points increase would mean a huge tax burden on the younger generations, describing it as “theft among generations.”
“He distorted the facts and raised public distrust of public pensions. We will not tolerate his nomination to the post.”
Graduating from Yonsei University and receiving a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, Moon served the Korea Development Institute as a researcher since 1989. Moon was appointed as the minister in December 2013.