Hope and worry coexist about prime minister nominee Han

Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo answers reporters' questions while entering his office in Jongno District, Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

Han denies involvement in representing Lone Star Funds

By Nam Hyun-woo

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's nomination of Han Duck-soo as his first prime minister has received mixed reactions. He is a veteran bureaucrat who served in key posts during previous administrations. But some believe he is too old to push for changes in the incoming administration.

Yoon dropped hints about allowing the 72-year-old former prime minister to have a greater say in nominations of Cabinet ministers and key policy areas than his predecessors did. Despite the possibility of having more discretion, the road ahead for Han is murky as a tough confirmation hearing is expected in the National Assembly. Even if he passes that test, it also remains uncertain whether he can function smoothly and turn the tide in favor of the nation during the fast-changing digital era.

Although Yoon has pinned high hopes on Han's varied experience, given his background of serving in key government posts in both conservative and liberal administrations, there are skeptics who are doubtful of his capability to proceed as a free-willed prime minister who aggressively fulfills his role in striking a power balance with his boss, the president.

“I believe it is time that the prime minster actively exercises his right to recommend Cabinet ministers to the president, rather than staying as a ceremonial leader,” Yoon's spokesperson, Rep. Kim Eun-hye, told reporters Monday.

“There have been efforts to give greater discretion and responsibilities to prime ministers in previous administrations, but it was difficult to see a noticeable outcome. … We will take that as a lesson and make efforts to have a more responsible prime minister.”

Han was named as the first prime minister of the Yoon government on Sunday. While announcing him, Yoon told reporters that he and Han have agreed on the prime minister having greater discretion and responsibilities, such as allowing him to recommend ministers and other Cabinet members to Yoon.

According to the Constitution, ministers and other Cabinet members can be appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the prime minister. Despite its purpose of distributing the power of the president, the prime minister has long been considered as the ceremonial No. 2 person in the government. That's because the president has dominated nominations and has the right to appoint or sack the prime minister.

During the 2012 presidential election, then-presidential candidates Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in both pledged to introduce what was called the “responsible prime minister system,” which is aimed at bolstering the No. 2 official's rights, but did not see tangible outcomes.

Yoon's intention to bolster the prime minister's discretion is in line with his campaign pledge to depart from Korea's legacy of “imperial” presidencies and delegate many rights of the president to the prime minister or ministers.

However, doubts have been raised as to whether Han will be able to exercise his discretion to stand up to Yoon himself.

During a radio interview, Monday, Rep. Woo Sang-ho of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said, “Han is not a suitable figure for this quasi-dual executive system.”

“He is a bureaucratic manager, and it seems difficult for Han to make outspoken comments to President-elect Yoon,” Woo said.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol nominates Han Duck-soo, right, as the prime minister of the incoming administration during a press conference at the presidential transition committee office in Jongno District, Seoul, Sunday. Joint Press Corps

The outlook is also mixed regarding the upcoming National Assembly hearing on Han.

Since the president requires the Assembly's approval when appointing a prime minister, it is important for him to receive the approval of the majority party, which is the DPK, which hold more than 170 seats in the 300-seat Assembly.

Though DPK floor leader Rep. Park Hong-keun said Monday that the party will launch a tough and thorough vetting process of Han, a number of pundits anticipate that the ruling party will take a cautious stance toward Han, because he previously served in the prime minister post during the liberal Roh Moo-hyun administration. If the DPK criticizes Han over his past experiences in that administration, the party could end up contradicting itself.

“It seems that the president-elect is thinking of cooperation with the DPK as one of the priorities,” Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) said during a radio interview on Monday. “Han worked for the liberal Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun administrations.”

Casting further uncertainty is Han's background of having worked as an advisor for law firm Kim & Chang, which was the legal representative of Lone Star Funds, whose controversial acquisition of stakes in the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) caused nationwide turmoil.

Civic group Specwatch said in a March 31 statement that Han was an advisor for the law firm from November 2002 to July 2003 and received 150 million won ($123,000) in salary there. Thus, he is responsible for the Lone Star case.

Texas-based Lone Star Funds acquired a 51-percent stake in the KEB in 2003 at 1.38 trillion won, despite controversy that the price was undervalued. The fund sold its stake back to Hana Financial Group at around 3.9 trillion won and then demanded that the Korean government pay 5 trillion won, claiming that the government's belated approval of the process had caused it to suffer losses. The case has been in dispute at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes for more than a decade.

During his way to the office, Monday, Han told reporters that he was “involved in the case as a government official, but never had relations on this issue during my time at Kim & Chang.”