PM's fate up in air

Acting President, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn

By Jun Ji-hye

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn’s fate is now up in the air after Park Geun-hye was removed from office, Friday.

Hwang, who was appointed to the position by Park in June 2015, discontinued the independent counsel’s investigation into the presidential scandal last week in defiance of public demand. He also previously blocked the team’s attempt to search the offices of scandal-ridden aides to Park inside Cheong Wa Dae.

His behavior triggered criticism that he was abusing his authority as acting president in order to protect Park.

There has been speculation that these decisions were linked to his possible presidential ambitions because he has emerged as the odds-on favorite to become the ruling Liberty Korea Party’s candidate.

However, the removal of Park from power bodes ill for him.

He may face increasing pressure from opposition parties to quit in the coming weeks, being labeled as a “collaborator” of the ill-fated leader. Most of all, depending on how the prosecution’s investigation will unfold, it cannot be ruled out that he himself could become a subject of the probe.

Some experts say he could opt to contend for the presidency to avoid possible political “persecution.” However, even if he does, chances are slim that he will win because the Park factor will hugely influence the presidential race.

Hwang became the leading candidate for conservatives after former U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon abruptly dropped out of the race, Feb. 1.

Having absorbed Ban’s popularity and made some moves construed as helping Park, Hwang is now ranked second in the opinion polls following Moon Jae-in, former chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

A Realmeter survey released Thursday showed that Moon garnered support of 36.1 percent, followed by Hwang at 14.2 percent and Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung, also from the DPK, at 12.9 percent.

If Hwang decides to become a candidate for the presidency, he will have to leave office 30 days before the election, meaning that he should resign from the position early next month at the latest.

The Public Official Election Act stipulates that a civil servant should leave office three months before a presidential election, but 30 days before the election if a by-election takes place.

In this case, the post of acting president would be passed onto Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho, which is likely to provoke criticism over Hwang’s irresponsibility and Yoo’s uncertainty.

Rep. Kim Moo-sung of the minor conservative Bareun Party said Hwang should remove himself from the “temptation” to run in the election.

“The nation has suffered a leadership vacuum,” Kim said. “If Hwang decides to run after leaving the position of acting president to the deputy prime minister, it will just show the absence of his sense of duty in managing state affairs.”

Even if Hwang decides not to run in the election, it will be difficult for him to stay in office until the election. Opposition lawmakers are raising concerns over whether he will be able to observe the election process objectively, considering the conservative moves he made.

Opposition lawmakers have claimed that using his former position as a prosecutor who specialized in security affairs, Hwang has played a core role in the Park government’s attempt to minimize various controversies facing it regarding major events such as the National Intelligence Service’s (NIS) alleged meddling in the 2012 presidential election.

Moon also expressed his concern over the possibility that the spy agency’s suspected intervention in the election could be repeated in this year’s poll.

“As long as the election takes place fairly, we can change the government,” he said during a media interview. “But we can be confronted with a difficult problem if the spy agency intervenes in the election again as it did in 2012.”

Former NIS director Won Sei-hoon was indicted for ordering NIS officials to systematically meddle in the election by conducting a smear campaign against Park’s rival candidate, Moon. An appeals court decision on whether Won is guilty or innocent is pending.