Ruling camp feud puzzles foreign diplomats

Presidential Chief of Staff Lee Byung-kee, left, and ruling Saenuri Party floor leader Yoo Seong-min take a part in a session of the National Assembly. / Yonhap

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Why is President Park Geun-hye so upset at ruling Saenuri Party floor leader Yoo Seong-min? Why does the presidential office keep pressing Yoo to step down?

An ambassador from an Asian country asked those questions during a business lunch with journalists from three media outlets, including The Korea Times, at a restaurant in Seoul earlier this week.

His curiosity about the ruling camp feud is based on the popular belief that the President and the ruling party are in a same boat and therefore they are supposed to be on the same page on major agendas.

Neither side will benefit if feuds or tensions continue between them because, without strong backing from the ruling party in the legislature, the presidential office will find it difficult to push for its agenda. Parliamentary approval is necessary for most major policy initiatives.

The envoy was also wondering if the presidential office is in a position to exert its influence on the fate of the ruling party floor leader, who is elected by its members.

It is fairly common for journalists covering the diplomatic circuit to meet foreign diplomats who have a hard time following domestic political issues in Korea.

They will ask questions about political issues whenever they meet local journalists because they have to report what is going on inside this country back to their governments.

In June, an envoy from Europe asked reporters, who gathered at his residence in Seoul for a policy briefing from a visiting Cabinet member from his country, about the potential prime minister candidates.

The post was vacant after Lee Wan-koo resigned in April after he was mired in allegations about bribery scandals.

Several names, including then Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is now prime minister, were reported as possible nominees.

The envoy asked who had the best chance to become prime minister, if the reporters believed the candidate was fully qualified for the job and if his managerial skills were strong enough to lead the Cabinet as the No. 2 person.

The European diplomat confessed that his boss in his home country did not understand why Korea had no prime minister for such a long time.

“In my country, there will usually be no vacuum in the prime minister’s office because the president will name the one that he believes fits the post and the appointment will be effective immediately, because no confirmation hearings are required for the president’s decision,” he said.

“If the president chooses the wrong one, people will criticize his decision. But this won’t change the appointment.”

In Korea, the prime minister post is left vacant for a relatively long time once the incumbent steps down.

Thorough parliamentary hearings raise the bar when it comes to the ethics of candidates. Sitting presidents tend to pay greater attention to the ethics of the candidates because, otherwise, the opposition parties will politicize the issue to discredit the proposed appointee. The practice of putting the nominee’s credentials and personal life together under the microscope also discourages qualified candidates from accepting job offers from the president.

It took 52 days before Hwang took over the prime minister post to succeed his predecessor, Lee. Like other prime ministers, Hwang underwent a tough parliamentary hearing where his credentials, public service record and even his family affairs were thoroughly screened by lawmakers. Following the hearing, lawmakers gave the green light to President Park for her nomination of Hwang.

Lee’s predecessor, Chung Hong-won, had been in office for two years until February.

Technically there was no vacuum in the prime minister post from Chung to Lee. But Chung “unintentionally” stayed in the post for almost 10 months.

In April 2014, he offered to resign to take responsibility for the sinking of the passenger ferry Sewol off the southwestern island city of Jindo. The maritime disaster took the lives of more than 300 people.

But he was “ordered” by the presidential office not to leave until President Park found a successor.