Yoon's transition team dominated by Seoul-born, 50-something men with SNU diplomas
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, front row third from left, poses with the leadership of the conservative main opposition People Power Party and members of his transition committee in front of the committee headquarters in Seoul's Jongno District, Friday. Joint Press Corps
By Jung Da-min
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition committee has faced criticism that its membership lacks the diversity needed to represent the views of different gender and age groups.
Yoon's transition committee has been dubbed “Seo-oh-nam” in Korean, with “Seo” indicating Seoul National University and those born in Seoul, “oh” referring to those in their 50s and “nam” meaning men.
Out of the total 24 members including the spokeswoman and 23 members of seven divisions under the committee, 13 graduated from Seoul National University and 12 were born in Seoul.
Their average age is 57.6. While 22 of the 24 are in their 50s or 60s, only two members are in their 40s, with the youngest being 45-year-old Nam Ki-tae, a professor at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of Seoul National University, appointed to the science, technology and education division.
Only four are women, and they are in their 50s and 60s.
Other political parties, including the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the minor progressive Justice Party, said Yoon's transition committee has failed to present a vision for national unity due to the “closed and regressive” selection of its members.
Park Ji-hyun, co-chairwoman of the DPK's emergency committee, pointed out that the committee has no members in their 20s or 30s.
“Such a selection of members favoring certain age groups, certain universities and certain regions is the wrong answer and it is regretful that there is no diversity,” Park said during a meeting of the DPK emergency committee at the National Assembly, Friday.
Yoon graduated from Seoul National University Law School, which is also the alma mater of former First Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, head of the transition committee's first economy division; conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Yoo Sang-bum, a member of the committee's state affairs, judiciary and administrative division; PPP Rep. Kwon Young-se, the transition committee's vice chairman; former Jeju Governor Won Hee-ryong, its planning chief; and former four-term lawmaker Park Joo-sun, the chair of the inauguration ceremony preparation committee.
President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, center, presides over the first meeting of his transition committee at the committee headquarters in Seoul's Jongno District, Friday. Joint Press Corps
“I believe President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's nomination principle, which values ability and experience, is reflected in the nominations for the transition committee,” Park Joon-sun said in a radio interview with local broadcaster CBS, Friday, when asked for a response to the criticisms of the transition committee's lack of diversity.
DPK emergency committee co-chair Park said Yoon's transition committee is also missing figures who could represent many other fields, including education and climate crisis management.
“There is no member in charge of dealing with the climate crisis which is an important and priceless matter. It seems like Yoon's transition committee does not care about the future of the young generation as well as young students or children,” Park said.
“Education experts have also been excluded in the nominations for the transition committee's science, technology and education division, when only science and technology experts were included... The growing need to bridge the education gap amid the COVID-19 crisis should not be ignored.”
Criticism also grew against Yoon's transition committee for lacking a member in charge of real estate issues, after one of Yoon's main pledges was to resolve real estate issues.
As for the criticism regarding the absence of real estate experts, Yoon's spokeswoman Rep. Kim Eun-hye said Thursday that the transition committee is planning to bring in other experts from different fields including real estate as expert members.
All three members of the committee's diplomacy and security division held high-ranking positions previously in the 2008-13 Lee Myung-bak administration. They are Kim Sung-han, former second vice foreign minister from 2012 to 2013 and a professor at Korea University's Graduate School of International Studies who will lead the division, Kim Tae-hyo, who served as presidential secretary on national security strategy between 2008 and 2012, and Lee Jong-sup, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.