By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak said he is somewhat accountable for inviting public criticism by appointing some scandal-ridden figures as Cabinet members.
In his meeting with secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday, Lee admitted that there were some irregular factors during the initial forming process of the new administration.
Mentioning a string of resignation of three minister designates amid severe criticism for their past inappropriate practices, he said, ``We are somewhat responsible for it. We failed to take full advantage of the state personnel information data.''
President Lee instructed his secretaries to overcome the Cabinet crisis through systematic changes and show the people that they have a hardworking attitude.
Three Cabinet minister-nominees for the new administration have withdrawn their nomination amid mounting public criticism on allegations that they were involved in illicit speculative real estate trading or enjoyed inappropriate tax breaks.
They are Gender Equality Minister-designate Lee Choon-ho, Environment Minister-designate Park Eun-kyung, and Unification Minister-designate Nam Joo-hong.
Still, a senior presidential secretary and several other minister-nominees have been denounced for their past improprieties.
Furthermore, there are allegations that several minister-appointees and presidential aides had received kickbacks from Samsung Group during the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
Lee is moving to change the atmosphere of Cabinet meetings in a pragmatic manner, his spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.
``President instructed that the number of Cheong Wa Dae staff attending the Cabinet meeting be reduced from 21 to 10 to help the meeting proceed in a substantial and productive way.''
He also ordered the replacement of luxury Cabinet meeting chairs with multifunctional utility furniture, the spokesman said.
Citing the President's instruction, the spokesman said that Cabinet meetings of previous governments used to be overcrowded with presidential secretaries and other Cabinet-related aides.
The new President is drawing attention for abolishing the hierarchy among his eight senior secretaries and allowing them to be seated in Cheong Wa Dae meeting rooms on a first-come basis.
Lee has also revealed a plan to receive ministerial policy briefings out of the government complexes to get more familiar with the field.