Moon may appoint disputed nominees

President Moon Jae-in walks with Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, right, and presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Kim Hyo-jin

The conflict between ruling and opposition parties deepened Tuesday over President Moon Jae-in’s Defense Minister nominee Song Young-moo and Labor Minister nominee Cho Dae-yop.

Moon is apparently pushing for the appointments of the two nominees that the opposition parties rejected after confirmation hearings, citing “unacceptable” ethical lapses.

Cheong Wa Dae said it will have a couple of more days to persuade the opposition parties, indicating that Moon may appoint them despite their objections.

The opposition parties slammed the ruling bloc for not withdrawing the nominations, saying the delay for cooperative politics is only aimed at disrupting the opposition’s united stance.

Presidential spokesperson Park Soo-hyun said the decision came at the request of the DPK floor leader Woo Won-shik.

“Woo strongly requested that Moon allow him a couple of days to normalize the National Assembly and Moon agreed,” Park told reporters.

He added that Cheong Wa Dae will do its utmost to persuade the opposition parties by explaining the trouble caused by the delay of the formation of the Cabinet that has been going on since Moon’s inauguration.

The President is planning to meet leaders of the opposition parties this week to explain the outcome of the Korea-U.S. summit and the G-20 summit last week, according to presidential officials. It is expected to be an occasion for seeking parliamentary cooperation.

Three opposition parties — the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LPK), the minor opposition People’s Party and Bareun Party — have called on Moon to withdraw the nomination of Song and Cho, or they will not work on passing the government’s supplementary budget and government reorganization bills .

They took issue with Song having received an exorbitant amount in advisory fees from a law firm — 30 million won ($26,350) a month — suspecting him of acting as a lobbyist for defense contractors. Cho was also deemed unqualified for having served as a nonexecutive director of a company which delayed the payment of wages to its employees and of driving under the influence of alcohol in the past.

The parties failed to adopt a confirmation hearing report on the two nominees by Monday, the deadline set by the President when asking for Assembly approval. It enables Moon to appoint the nominees beginning Tuesday. The appointment of Cabinet members, except for the prime minister, does not require parliamentary approval.

Moon expressed regret at the stalled Assembly process for the pending bills during a Cabinet meeting.

“It is truly regrettable that the opposition parties relate the extra budget bill and the reorganization bill to the appointment of ministers,” he said. “I ask the opposition to cooperate with us for the state, for the greater good.”

The opposition parties, however, responded negatively by boycotting a scheduled plenary session later in the day.

“The ruling bloc is only testing the opposition. It’s no more than a tactical move,” LKP floor leader Chung Woo-taik said.

Kim Dong-cheol, the People’s Party floor leader, also agreed, calling it a mere stopgap measure. He criticized the ruling party, noting that Woo reportedly sounded out the LKP’s position on an option of withdrawing either of the two nominees.

“The ruling party is making a deal with the group that disrupted state affairs. Playing one against the other among the opposition parties would not be successful,” he said.

Pundits say Moon will appoint Song and Cho in the end.

It could be possible based on his strong public backing. His approval rating was at 85.9 percent at the latest KSOI public survey.

The delay of their appointments appears to be an inevitable option, they said, as the DPK and the second-largest opposition People’s Party, a deciding vote in the Assembly, have been engaged a heated strife over the scandal of the smear campaign against the President.

Following DPK leader Choo Mi-ae’s remark that People’s Party senior members must have been involved in the scandal where documents used in the allegation against Moon’s son were fabricated, the People’s Party has raised an all-out offensive against the ruling party.

It has denied the Party leaders’ involvement, claiming the fabrication was done by a single party member.