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Miraculous evacuation operation overshadowed by justice ministry's bureaucracy
Justice Minister Park Beom-kye, second from right, speaks to Afghan evacuees who arrived at Incheon International Airport via a KC-330 military tanker transport aircraft, Thursday. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Vice minister slammed for aide kneeling while holding umbrella for him
By Jun Ji-hye
Korea's evacuation mission, which airlifted a total of 390 Afghans seeking refuge from the Taliban in their homeland, has been completed. However, the successful operation, hailed by many ― including international media outlets ― has been tarnished by the Ministry of Justice's apparent emphasis on performing excessive ceremonies.
Under the mission, named “Operation Miracle,” Afghan evacuees, who include medical professionals and interpreters who worked for Korea's embassy and its humanitarian and relief facilities in Afghanistan, as well as their family members, were evacuated to Korea in two groups, with two military aircraft mobilized, amid worsening security conditions there, due to the ongoing pullout of U.S. troops and the Taliban retaking power.
The justice ministry stirred up a controversy when the first group of 377 Afghans, including 180 children and infants, landed at Incheon International Airport via a KC-330 military tanker transport aircraft, Thursday.
At the time, photojournalists were taking pictures of the Afghans in a secure zone of the airport, but some ministry officials asked journalists to move and instead take pictures of Justice Minister Park Beom-kye, who was giving out dolls to Afghan children.
As the journalists refused the request, saying that they needed to take more photos of the Afghans entering the country, one ministry official reportedly said, “You all are allowed to take pictures in a secure zone of the airport only when we approve it. If you keep refusing our request, we will have no choice but to consider withdrawing our permission.”
As the confrontation between the ministry and photojournalists escalated, even an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who was at the scene lodged a complaint against the justice ministry officials.
The conflict was resolved only when some journalists relocated to a spot where Minister Park was performing the doll delivery ceremony.
“I am Korea's justice ministry. Welcome to Korea,” Park said in front of the cameras.
An aide from the Ministry of Justice kneels behind Vice Minister Kang Sung-kook to cover him with an umbrella, during a media briefing held at the Leadership Campus of the National Human Resources Development Institute in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, right after Afghan evacuees arrived there, Friday. Yonhap
Shin In-kyu, the vice spokesperson of the conservative main opposition People Power Party, criticized Minister Park for strong-arming the journalists at the event in order to put him in the center of attention.
“The justice ministry even bullied the media by threatening to withdraw its permission for them to cover the scene. Were these dolls so important? Park should make an official apology to the public,” Shin said, Saturday.
The justice ministry was embroiled in a fresh controversy after just one day, when Vice Justice Minister Kang Sung-kook held a media briefing at the Leadership Campus of the National Human Resources Development Institute in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, right after the Afghan evacuees arrived there to stay for about eight weeks.
While Kang was speaking about the ministry's plans to support the evacuees during a briefing about 10 minutes long outside of the building on a rainy day, a younger justice ministry official was photographed kneeling down on the asphalt behind the vice minister in order to hold an umbrella over him. These photos invited huge criticism from the public in online communities.
“I wonder if the vice minister cannot hold an umbrella on his own,” a user commented on a Naver article, while another user wrote, “The parents of that aide who had to kneel down on the hard ground must have felt terrible if they had seen these pictures.”
As controversy grew, Kang explained that nobody ordered the aide to kneel down while holding the umbrella, saying, “That official just did his best for the briefing to proceed without a hitch. I should have paid more attention to him. I offer an apology.”