Transition team, Saenuri in discord

Kollen Park, left, a member of Park Geun-hye’s transition team’s youth committee, waits for a meeting to begin at the team’s office in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Thursday. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon

By Kang Hyun-kyung

There is growing tension between the presidential transition team and the ruling Saenuri Party regarding the government restructuring plan unveiled recently and the feasibility of President-elect Park Geun-hye’s campaign promises.

Such tension is expected to put the partnership between the two entities, critical for Park to implement her vision, to the test.

An alleged lack of communication between the two sides is said to have worsened the situation.

The transition team unveiled the restructuring plan without prior consultation with the party, members to harbor hard feelings about the way it works.

Rep. Shin Sung-bum revealed displeasure about the restructuring plan. The lawmaker pledged to work closely together with his fellow lawmakers to help the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food get back jurisdiction over food which is to be transferred to another agency under the proposal.

“Food and agriculture need to be put together in the same ministry to create a synergy effect. So we, lawmakers, will try to fix this,” Shin said. “It is the transition team’s idea to separate those two functions and they didn’t consult with the ruling party about it.”

In an interview, Rep. Ahn Hong-joon, chairman of the National Assembly Committee on Foreign affairs and Trade, also revealed his discontent about the separation of the trade function from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

He said the Assembly will correct this so that the foreign ministry can maintain its trade function.

Park’s campaign promises are another source of friction between the ruling party and the team.

Kim Yong-joon, the head of the team, fired back at some ruling Saenuri Party members regarding their call to review the feasibility of President-elect Park’s campaign pledges.

During a rare press conference at the Korea Banking Institute where the team is based, Kim alleged those who call for rethinking the pledges are confusing the public.

“Some carelessly call on us, the transition team, to break those promises, without considering pains and toils that were taken when those pledges were made,” he said. “Some even say if we try to keep all those promises, we are going to face trouble. What I want to tell them is that they are confusing the public with those remarks and this is simply rude.”

Kim’s criticism came a day after some senior ruling party members, including Rep. Chung Mong-joon, voiced concern about Park’s campaign pledges.

The seven-term lawmaker advised Park and the team to be flexible and strategic when looking into the feasibility of her campaign pledges, instead of seeking a single-minded pursuit to keep them all without considering the limited financial resources.

Chung urged the team to prioritize the promises and follow the rule of doing first things first. He said the new president will need to be courageous enough to dump unfeasible policies.

Yoon Chang-jung, a spokesman of the team, revealed discomfort over media reports that the team was ready to scrutinize Park’s pledges.

During a briefing on Wednesday, the spokesman said the team would assess the promises to see if they overlapped or clashed, were feasible or too broad to be implemented.

Yoon said he was quoted out of context, saying his remarks didn’t indicate that the team would rethink Park’s promises.