President appoints 'reformer' Choo as justice minister
President Moon Jae-in offers his hand gestures to Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, Moon's right, on his way for a tea meeting also with other senior presidential aides at the President's main working room in Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. Yonhap
By Kim Yoo-chul
President Moon Jae-in appointed former ruling party head Choo Mi-ae as justice minister Thursday, a few days after the National Assembly passed a bill to set up an anti-corruption agency to investigate corruption allegations against high-profile officials.
“At the stroke of midnight, Choo Mi-ae officially took the role as the country's justice minister. President Moon approved this at 7 a.m., Thursday,” Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Ko Min-jung told reporters via a text message.
The appointment came two days after President Moon requested the National Assembly to approve Choo for the position. He asked the Assembly to forward confirmation reports by New Year's Day, however, it failed to do so as the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) refused to adopt them.
Generally, minister-nominees must undergo a confirmation hearing at the Assembly, but the President isn't bound by any recommendation made, and can appoint his designates to the posts despite the parliamentary body's disapproval.
Moon has done so in previous cases. “After the President decided to nominate Choo for the position, he had no plans to withdraw the nomination,” another Cheong Wa Dae official said.
The new justice minister has a “candid outspoken style” and is widely-regarded as a “reformer.” She is a long-time ally of the President and is considered the “right fit” for the position because of her backing of Moon's drive for prosecutorial reform.
The position has been vacant for 80 days since Moon accepted the resignation of Cho Kuk. Cho, considered one of Moon's top lieutenants, resigned citing the growing burden from a corruption investigation into his family on multiple charges.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office indicted Cho last week. A prosecution official said the former justice minister was facing at least 11 criminal charges including working with his wife to manipulate and fabricate official documents to help their daughter's admission into prestigious universities.
Officials at the presidential office and ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmakers said Choo would accelerate efforts to reform the prosecutorial system amid growing public distrust of state prosecutors.
“The new justice minister is the right person to reform and stabilize the prosecution. We want Choo to firmly strengthen its core values in terms of fairness and justice. Choo is determined to explore all measures that will complete prosecutorial reform,” DPK spokesman Lee Hae-shik said Thursday.
President Moon's appointment of Choo angered the LKP which demanded her withdrawal citing the Assembly's non-confirmation.
Keen attention is being paid to any measures related to structural changes at the prosecution that Choo will come up with. These could include changes among senior prosecutors who support for Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl. Choo has made it clear that the justice ministry won't cooperate with prosecutors handling key pending issues.
“I am ready and will listen views and opinions on issues from the prosecutor's office. However, that doesn't mean the ministry will cooperate with the office as the justice minister has the authority to direct the prosecution,” Choo told lawmakers during her recent Assembly confirmation hearing.
On taking power in 2017, President Moon vowed to reform the prosecution to improve transparency, strengthen fairness and to better handle social unease. The Assembly recently passed a bill to establish an independent agency dedicated to investigating allegations of illegal behavior by high-ranking government officials.
The prosecution has been center stage in controversies involving political corruption. Moon's liberal supporters claim that the prosecution has long been used “politically” by former conservative administrations to target their opponents.
The appointment of Choo and the passage of the bill come just months before a key general election in April, which the Moon administration and the ruling party view as a key barometer of public opinion for the second half of the incumbent's presidency.
Despite the President's initial rapid diplomatic rapprochement with North Korea at the start of his term, substantial results have yet to be seen. Relations between the Koreas have worsened as Cheong Wa Dae faces a number of other challenges including reviving the sagging economy.
“Cheong Wa Dae and the ruling party are under pressure to do something to prevent the President suffering from lame-duck status,” a presidential office official said recently.
According to the latest poll by Gallup Korea, President Moon's approval rating in December was around 47 percent, about the same as at the beginning of the year.