Moon to appoint disputed minister nominees

Rep. Hwang Ju-hong, chairman of the Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, holds the gavel after the committee adopted the hearing report on oceans minister nominee Moon Seong-hyeok at the National Assembly, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

President Moon Jae-in is expected to proceed with the appointment of three minister nominees opposed by conservative parties before leaving for the U.S. on April 10 for his summit with President Donald Trump.

Moon asked the National Assembly to adopt confirmation hearing reports for the three by April 7 ― a procedure to get the Assembly's opinions on nominees for Cabinet posts. Conservative parties last week refused to adopt the reports following confirmation hearings, citing the nominees' ideological bias and ethical lapses.

Senior presidential secretary for communication Yoon Do-han indicated Tuesday that Moon will appoint them anyway despite the conservative parties' objection. Later in the day, Moon formally asked the Assembly to adopt reports on the three.

They are Chin Young for interior and safety minister; Park Young-sun for SMEs and Startups minister and Kim Yeon-chul for unification minister.

If they are appointed, political strife between liberal and conservative parties is expected to deepen.

It was largely expected that Moon would appoint them regardless of the parliament's adoption of the hearing reports. He can appoint Cabinet ministers without the reports as they are not legally binding for the appointment. Moon has replaced eight ministerial-level posts without the Assembly's reports in the past.

Moon appointed seven minister nominees in a Cabinet reshuffle in early March and withdrew his nomination for Cho Dong-ho as the minister of science for ethical lapses, while Choi Jeong-ho, a nominee for transportation minister, announced he will step down over alleged real estate speculation.

Hearing reports on culture minister nominee Park Yang-woo and oceans minister nominee Moon Seong-hyeok were adopted on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

According to law, the parliament needs to adopt the report as a procedural step in response to the presidential office's nomination within 20 days. If the National Assembly fails to do so, the president can ask the Assembly to issue a report within 10 days. If the deadline passes, the president can appoint ministerial nominees regardless of parliamentary adoption of the reports.

Opposition parties have called for the withdrawal of Park Young-sun and Kim Yeon-chul as they are disqualified candidates. The parties warned that they will not cooperate with parliamentary activities unless Moon withdraws the appointments and fires Cheong Wa Dae officials who were in charge of the nomination.

“Moon's reshuffle is to defend the administration,” Rep. Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), said during a party meeting Tuesday. “Without dismissing Cheong Wa Dae officials, senior secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk and senior secretary for personnel affairs Cho Hyun-ok, and withdrawing his nomination of Park Young-sun and Kim Yeon-chul, the Liberty Korea Party will not cooperate with the parliamentary activities from now on.”

Rep. Kim Kwan-young of the Bareunmirae Party echoed the LKP's view and said: “Moon should communicate with opposition parties. We urge Moon to make the right decision.”