Moon appoints ministers, neglects political cooperation pledge

By Do Je-hae

President Moon Jae-in has come under fire for once again disregarding the opposition and naming controversial figures to key Cabinet posts.

Moon handed out letters of appointment to four new ministers during a ceremony at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday, including Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Byeon Chang-heum. The former CEO of the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH) has been grilled over his past controversial comments and actions but the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) unilaterally approved his nomination following a confirmation hearing despite protests from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), Monday. Moon formally appointed Byeon shortly after the DPK's approval

The President's swift appointment of the controversial minister triggered criticism that he is forgoing some of the pledges he made at the beginning of his presidency, such as communication with the opposition and cooperative politics.

The opposition has pointed out that the Moon administration has seen a greater number of high-level officials appointed by the President regardless of the disapproval from the opposition after confirmation hearings. Byeon was the 26th high-level official to be appointed without approval from the opposition during the Moon administration's three years and seven months. This is already almost as many as the combined numbers from the previous three administrations ― during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, there were three such cases, 17 during the Lee Myung-bak administration and 10 during the Park Geun-hye administration.

During the confirmation hearing, Byeon was hit for his past remarks regarding the death of a subcontracted maintenance worker at Seoul's Guui Station in 2016, which was seen to lay the blame on the worker rather than structural safety problems that led to the accident. He has also faced allegations of hiring people close to him when he was serving as the head of LH.

“In addition to all kinds of absurd remarks, there are many issues such as the suspicion of his blacklisting of workers and the unfair recruitment of his acquaintances at LH,” said Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the PPP. “The PPP will soon file criminal charges against Byeon.”

There are also lingering doubts from the public and the opposition on whether Byeon will be capable of doing a better job than his controversial predecessor Kim Hyun-mee as the top housing policymaker. But Moon has underlined his trust in Byeon. “I hope that the Ministry of Economy and Finance will make special efforts to support the housing supply plan envisioned by the land minister nominee,” he said during a meeting with Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki at Cheong Wa Dae, Dec. 9.

Previously, some of the most controversial figures of the Moon administration such as former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, current Unification Minister Lee In-young and National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won, were also appointed despite fierce opposition from the PPP over their suitability.