By Jun Ji-hye
Concerns were raised Thursday about a possible delay in the launch of President-elect Park Geun-hye’s transition team. Any delay will mean that Park will have less time to prepare to take over the administration compared to previous presidents.
The team’s spokesman Yoon Chang-jung said that the President-elect will announce her final selection of members within two or three days, adding, “Park needs more time to examine each figure’s credentials to be on the transition team.”
The preparation period for taking over government is from the day after the election (Dec. 20), to Feb. 24, a day before the inauguration, meaning Park has around 50 days even if she finalizes her selection today.
Political watchers pointed out that this may not be sufficient to work on various tasks for the transition period, including ministerial appointments.
Additionally, the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee also has to move forward on making her election pledges a reality.
This is a formidable task as she has proposed different policies from those of President Lee Myung-bak. Among such are the democratization of the economy and life-long welfare.
For those reasons, pervious presidents launched their transition teams as early as possible before entering the New Year.
Lee officially established his team just a week after his election. The late Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun launched them on Dec. 26 (1997) and Dec. 30 (2002), respectively.
Experts say controversy surrounding recent appointments is part of the reason Park is taking more time to verify the credentials of candidates before making any public announcement.
The main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) is still calling for Park to drop four members including the team’s spokesman Yoon.
“We don’t have any intention to apply the brakes on launching the new government, but we cannot accept such appointments,” said Park Ki-choon, the floor leader of the DUP at a policy meeting in the National Assembly.
He insisted that it was not just the opposition that had trouble with the controversial appointments but even some conservative figures also held the same view.
“They too are calling for Yoon’s voluntary resignation. Park should repair what went wrong,” he said.
Some of Park’s close aides have recently joined the opposition’s protest.
Rep. Yoo Seong-min of the ruling Saenuri Party who is regarded as pro-Park, claimed in a recent interview with a local newspaper that, “Yoon is a far-right figure. His immediate resignation is the right answer.”
Rev. In Myung-jin, former chairman of the Ethics Committee of the Grand National Party, the predecessor of the Saenuri Party, also criticized the appointment.
Appearing on PBC radio, the pastor said, “Yoon should have rejected Park’s offer as he knows he is unfit for the job and many have said he is biased.”