Moon's Cabinet reshuffle focuses on stability over reform

Cheong Wa Dae announced its latest Cabinet reshuffle Friday. From left are nominees to join the Moon Jae-in government: Kim Boo-kyum, a former four-term lawmaker with the DPK and a former minister of interior and safety, as new prime minister; Noh Hyeong-ouk, former chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination as land minister; Moon Sung-wook, deputy head of Office for Government Policy Coordination as minister of trade, industry and energy; Lim Hye-sook, chief of the National Research Council of Science Technology as science minister; An Kyung-duk, a standing member of the Economic, Social Labor Council as minister of employment and labor; and Park Jun-young, vice minister of oceans and fisheries as the new minister of oceans and fisheries. Yonhap

Moon replaces prime minister, five Cabinet members

By Jung Da-min

President Moon Jae-in announced a Cabinet reshuffle, Friday, widely seen as being focused on ensuring stability rather than pushing a reform drive in his fifth and final year in office, according to political watchers the same day.

They also said the shakeup was aimed at bringing new momentum to his leadership following the crushing defeat of the ruling party in the April 7 by-elections.

In the by-elections, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea lost in both mayoral elections in the nation's two largest cities of Seoul and Busan to the main opposition People Power Party amid growing public anger against the Moon administration's failed real estate policies and a snowballing land speculation scandal involving employees of the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH).

In the reshuffle, which could be his final one before leaving office in May 2022, the President nominated Kim Boo-kyum, a former four-term lawmaker and minister of interior and safety, as his new prime minister to replace Chung Sye-kyun, who resigned to prepare for a presidential bid.

After being nominated, Kim told reporters that he will devote his strength to helping the country overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and restore the people's livelihoods after his appointment following a parliamentary confirmation hearing.

Kim in particular pledged to "place greater effort towards cooperative governance, inclusion and national unity." He added, "I won't hesitate to ask for cooperation from the opposition party."

Along with the prime minister, Moon replaced five Cabinet members, including Land Minister Byeon Chang-heum, who has been under fire for speculative land deals involving civil servants at LH, which he formerly headed.

The other nominees are Lim Hye-sook, chief of the National Research Council of Science Technology, as science minister; Moon Sung-wook, deputy head of Office for Government Policy Coordination, as minister of trade, industry and energy; An Kyung-duk, a standing member of the Economic, Social Labor Council, as minister of employment and labor; Noh Hyeong-ouk, former chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, as land minister; and Park Jun-young, vice minister of oceans and fisheries, as the new minister.

“The fact that most of the minister nominees have bureaucratic experience shows that Moon's Cabinet reshuffle is not focused on bringing about new policy reform drives, but on stabilizing state administration to appease public opinion,” said political commentator Lee Jong-hoon.

Another political commentator Park Sang-byoung said Moon's pick of minister nominees consists of insiders who have already been verified, rather than bringing in talented figures from outside. He added that this was because Moon did not want to risk pushing ahead with other policy reforms and was more focused on completing the rest of his presidency in a stable manner.

“When new figures from outside join the administration, public officials at government departments feel nervous as they have to work to adjust to the new leadership. But when those from inside become the new heads of government departments, the officials and the new leaders can work as one team until Moon's presidency ends,” Park said.

Meanwhile, Moon also replaced five senior officials, including naming former lawmaker Lee Cheol-hee as the new senior presidential secretary for political affairs and former lawmaker Park Kyung-mee as the new presidential spokeswoman.

The prime minister and minister nominees are subject to a National Assembly confirmation hearing.