By Kang Seung-woo
President Park Geun-hye seems to be struggling to find a nominee for prime minister who can pass the National Assembly confirmation hearing.
Park returned to work last Monday after a week-long absence due to fatigue from a 12-day trip to South America, but she has shown no signs yet of being close to appointing a No. 2.
Some candidates seen as fit for the job reportedly failed to meet Cheong Wa Dae’s standards, while others rejected the proposal for fear of possible criticism at the hearing.
“There are few candidates immune from a tough hearing that finds fault with them,” a high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae official said on Sunday.
“A verification hearing prevents the government from using men of talent.”
Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said on Wednesday, “At this point, we have nothing to say about the appointment of a prime minister.”
Former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo quit on April 20 in the wake of a bribery scandal that alleged he took illegal political contributions from Keangnam Enterprises late Chairman Sung Woan-jong.
Park was bedridden for a week due with stomach cramps and a sore throat, but speculation is rife that she is having trouble finding a new premier, given that Lee resigned more than two weeks ago,
Park’s selection of prime ministers got off to a rocky start even before her inauguration in February 2013.
Her first nominee Kim Yong-joon, the former Constitutional Court chief, gave up his nomination because of his son’s military service exemption and allegations of real estate speculation. Two other nominees ― Ahn Dae-hee and Moon Chang-keuk ― resigned shortly after they were nominated due to questions over ethical issues last year.
Ahn is a former Supreme Court justice and Moon is a former journalist.
In the face of a string of setbacks with candidates without a political background, the President looked to Lee, a third-term lawmaker. But Lee’s involvement in the graft scandal is making Park hesitate to handpick a politician once again, raising speculation that a replacement may take longer than expected.
“President Park may be concerned about the possibility that other politicians she views as candidates may be involved in the scandal,” said Hangil Research director Hong Hyeong-sik.
Prof. Chung Goon-gi at Hongik University said the delay was probably due to lack of candidates able to survive a torrid confirmation hearing.
“After Lee Wan-koo stepped down due to bribery allegations, the President should now check candidates’ illegal behavior as well as ethical lapses and in this respect, there are few people in her candidate pool,” he said.
Chung also said the Saenuri Party’s about-face on a bipartisan bill for civil service pension reform would worsen the situation.
On Wednesday, the National Assembly failed to pass the reform bill amid growing criticism, although it agreed to the bill last week.
“Although the prime minister appointment is not related to the reform bill, the ruling side’s flip-flop has upset the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, and the opposition party is expected to conduct a tougher verification hearing,” the professor said.
However, Hong said Park might choose Lee’s replacement after monitoring how the situation developed in the graft scandal and the drive for reform.
“Should the reform plans fall through, Park may pick a politician to complete them,” he said.
“Otherwise, she is likely to depend on an economic specialist, if the government focuses on boosting the economy.”
The rival parties are seeking to convene an extra session of the National Assembly to deal with the aborted civil service pension reform bill.
Among candidates for the post are Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan and Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea; Kim Moo-soo, a former governor of Gyeonggi Province; Lee Ju-young, a former oceans and fisheries minister; Lee Hahn-koo, a Saenuri Party lawmaker and economy expert; and Kim Kwan-jin, head of the National Security Office.
However, Choi and Hwang, both of whom are incumbent lawmakers, are expected to run in next year’s general election. Selection of either Choi or Hwang would mean an additional Cabinet reshuffle.