By Lee Hyo-sik
State affairs have come to a virtual halt following a recent bombshell revelation that Choi Soon-sil, a confidant of President Park Geun-hye, meddled in personnel management and other key policy issues.
Bureaucrats have begun postponing decisions on the fate of the debt-ridden Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and other crucial matters as Cheong Wa Dae, which struggles to contain the fallout of the Choi scandal, no longer acts as a control tower.
The National Assembly has also been all but paralyzed as ruling and opposition party lawmakers wrangle over the unprecedented controversy to seize the upper hand ahead of the 2017 presidential election, while neglecting to deal with labor market reforms, the 2017 budget bill and other issues that significantly affect people’s lives.
On Thursday, the government held a meeting of economy-related ministers, presided over by Strategy and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, and decided to keep DSME afloat until 2018. This means that the Park administration is shifting the responsibility to the next administration, which will be inaugurated in February 2018, for the handling of the cash-strapped shipbuilder.
Policymakers have been reluctant to let DSME go bankrupt after they were in the hot seat for the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping, which caused a full-scale logistics chaos.
With the Presidential office in limbo, Yoo and other ministers appear to be seeking to keep the status quo concerning the struggling shipbuilder until they complete their terms in office, to avoid being blamed for any adverse effects.
In addition, the National Assembly has also been drifting on the Choi scandal, with lawmakers rushing to criticize President Park for allowing her confidant to meddle in state affairs.
The assembly has many pending issues to cope with, including labor market reform and the 2017 budget, but no lawmaker seems to be interested in tending to state matters. They are interested in capitalizing on the growing public anger toward the President and achieving their political gains, according to analysts.
“The entire nation continues to be in a state of panic,” said an economist at a Seoul-based research institute, who declined to be named. “Policymakers need to tackle problems and make timely policy decisions to facilitate the restructuring of struggling industries and revitalize the sagging economy. But with President Park engulfed by the Choi scandal, bureaucrats have chosen to do nothing.”
The lame duck period has begun for Park, according to the economist, who also said it is very unlikely for the assembly to do its job either.
“Lawmakers have many things to do. They need to deal with the labor market reform bill and the 2017 budget bill, among others,” he said. “With the absence of the national leadership and increasing regulatory risks, companies have increasingly become anxious. Many of them haven’t even drawn up a business plan for the next year. I hope people come to their senses as soon as possible and do their jobs.”