Park replaces 3 ministers
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Cho Yoon-sun Culture minister
Scandal-ridden secretary survives reshuffle
By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye replaced three ministers and four vice minister-level officials, Tuesday.
However, she kept her embattled senior secretary for civil affairs, Woo Byung-woo, who is mired in a corruption scandal, drawing criticism from the opposition parties.
Cho Yoon-sun, a former gender minister, was appointed Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, while Kim Jae-soo, CEO of the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. was tapped to lead the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Park also named Cho Kyeung-kyu, a deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination under the Prime Minister’s Office, as the environment minister.
With the agriculture and environment ministers replaced, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is the only Cabinet member to remain in office since Park’s February 2013 inauguration.
The three are subject to National Assembly confirmation hearings.
Once confirmed, this will be the new culture minister Cho’s third position in the Park administration. She also worked at Cheong Wa Dae as the senior presidential secretary for political affairs from June 2014 to May 2015.
The Park government regards the culture industry as a future growth engine due to the popularity of the nation’s culture exports, including soap operas and pop music, in China, Japan and other Asian countries in recent years.
In that respect, Cho, who has served as one of the President’s closest aides for years, is regarded as a good fit to lead Park’s drive for cultural prosperity.
“The culture minister nominee has a deep understanding of the culture and arts, and well understands the president’s philosophy in running the country,” senior presidential secretary for public affairs Kim Sung-woo told reporters. “Based on her ample experience both in government and legislative affairs, we believe she will contribute to the advancement of tourism, culture and related areas.”
As for the new vice minister-level officials, Park’s secretary for industry and trade affairs Jeong Marn-ki was named vice minister of trade, industry and energy, while former senior prosecutor Park Kyeong-ho was appointed as vice chief of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.
Noh Hyeong-ouk, a senior official at the ministry of strategy and finance, was tapped to fill the vacancy left by Cho Kyeung-kyu, the environment minister nominee, and Chung Hwang-keun, the presidential secretary for agricultural and fishery affairs, was tapped to head the Rural Development Administration.
Senior civil affairs secretary Woo is under pressure to step down following a series of corruption allegations involving his family, raising speculation that President Park may have replaced him.
However, keeping the aide in his position means the head of state still has confidence in him.
“Despite many allegations surrounding him, nothing has turned out to be true, so we have no reason to replace him,” said a Cheong Wa Dae official.
He allegedly asked online gaming company Nexon Korea to buy real estate owned by his in-laws through arrested prosecutor Jin Kyung-joon, helped his son get special treatment during military service and provided secret legal counsel to a jailed businessman.
Opposition parties slammed the reshuffle for excluding Woo, saying the presidential office turned a blind eye to public sentiment.
“Above all, it is unbelievable that Woo, facing various suspicions, was not replaced,” said Park Kwang-on, a spokesman of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea.
“In addition, those who are included in the reshuffle were confirmed by Woo and we are not sure whether the embattled secretary did that correctly.”
The minor People’s Party also said, “What the people wanted was for Woo to be replaced, but this reshuffle will only deject them more.”