Park under pressure to open up

By Jun Ji-hye

President-elect Park Geun-hye

There are growing calls for President-elect Park Geun-hye to change her secretive nomination style that relies on a few of her close aides, following the withdrawal of Kim Yoon-joon, her first nominee for prime minister.

Many, even members of the ruling Saenuri Party, cite the need for her to make the most use of databases of relevant departments, including Cheong Wa Dae, the National Tax Service and the National Police Agency.

“Thorough verification in advance is necessary in terms of candidates’ ethical qualification,” said Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, chairman of the party, at a meeting in the National Assembly.

On Kim’s case, Park did not request any material from Cheong Wa Dae to investigate his credentials before the official nomination, eventually resulting in his withdrawal under pressure following suspicions over alleged real estate speculation and other ethical lapses.

Cheong Wa Dae has built a database of over 10,000 key figures that contains their personal information, including family relations, whether or not they fulfilled mandatory military service, how they accumulated their wealth and other ethical issues.

Rep. Chung Woo-taik agreed with Hwang, saying “Park needs to amend and supplement her nomination style. A proper system is needed to scrutinize envisioned nominees before officially announcing them to the public.”

He added Park could have examined suspicions surrounding Kim regarding the military service of his sons and real estate speculation by simply looking through some documents.

Lee Sang-don, a law professor at Chungang University, said in an appearance in CBS radio, “It was kind of fortunate that such a problem was exposed now. When selecting members, security is of course important. But, what is more important is, it should be predictable and the nation can understand it.”

Over who will be the follow-up nomination for prime minister, analysts say there is a greater possibility that the 60-year-old President-elect will reconsider those who were mentioned around the time she chose Kim, saying Park tends to trust figures she already knows.

Among those, Cho Moo-jeh, a former justice of the Supreme Court, is expected to emerge as a possible candidate. Cho has earned his nickname “poor but honest judge” for having the lowest wealth among high-ranking judges, reporting only 64 million won ($59,000) in 1993.

Kim Neung-hwan, former chairman of the National Election Commission, is another possibility. As he passed a National Assembly confirmation hearing in 2006 when securing his post as a Supreme Court justice, he is believed to be a “safe candidate” for Park.