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| President Moon Jae-in, left, and justice minister Cho Kuk, Moon's first senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, head toward a meeting room after an appointment ceremony for new Cabinet ministers at Cheong Wa Dae in September 2019. Moon appointed Cho as justice minister despite fierce protests from the opposition. Korea Times file |
Four senior secretaries for civil affairs at center of political controversies
By Do Je-hae
President Moon Jae-in has had four senior secretaries for civil affairs since taking office in May 2017, all of whom have ended up causing controversies that have damaged the public's trust in Moon's leadership.
The senior aide for civil affairs is among the most powerful positions within Cheong Wa Dae ― Moon himself served in this position for the late former President Roh Moo-hyun from 2005 to 2006.
One of the primary duties of the post is to oversee affairs related to the prosecution. It has been a longtime practice at the presidential office to name a prosecutor to the position, but the practice has not been followed so far in the current administration.
Moon has hired people from outside, such as law professor Cho Kuk, who ultimately went on to serve as justice minister as well, to spearhead prosecutorial reform, one of President Moon's key campaign pledges.
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| Supporters of the Liberty Korea Party, precursor of the main opposition People Power Party, hold a rally in protest of Cho Kuk's appointment as justice minister, Aug. 31, in central Seoul. Korea Times file |
The controversial saga of Moon's senior civil affairs secretaries began with Cho, who left the post in August 2019 after serving two years and two months, and went on to become justice minister in September 2019. He became a subject of public indignation when various allegations of corruption and illegalities involving himself and his family members were revealed during his National Assembly nomination hearing.
Despite the hugely negative public sentiment against Cho and protests from the opposition, Moon named him as justice minister anyway.
In particular, the allegations about favors for his children's education, a very sensitive issue for the Korean public, ended up severely hampering the public's trust in Moon, who had underlined fairness and justice as the core values of his administration.
During this time, Moon's job approval rating dropped under 40 percent for the first time since he took office in May 2017.
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| Moon replaced Cho Kuk with Kim Jo-won, a former BAI official and KAI CEO. An owner of two houses in the affluent district of Gangnam, he left Cheong Wa Dae at the height of the public uproar over Moon's housing policy in summer 2020. Korea Times file |
Moon replaced Cho with Kim Jo-won, a former KAI CEO and senior official at the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI). But Kim ended up causing trouble for Cheong Wa Dae as well, for seemingly going against then-presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min's recommendation for senior presidential officials to sell real estate holdings other than their main residence.
Kim, who owns two apartments in the affluent Gangnam district, reportedly clashed with the chief of staff about the one-house-per-person policy imposed by the presidential office ― an effort to give the public the impression that Cheong Wa Dae was doing all it could to contain speculative purchasing.
Kim retained his two houses and left the presidential office in August 2020, at the height of a public uproar against the government's policy failures to contain housing prices.
Kim was succeeded by Kim Jong-ho, another former senior official at the BAI, but his tenure was cut short after only four months on the job amid the conflict between former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, who had been initiating investigations into sensitive cases for the Moon administration, such as the allegations that Cheong Wa Dae meddled in the election for Ulsan mayor.
Kim Jong-ho resigned in order to take responsibility for the political fallout from the Choo-Yoon conflict, which also had a profound impact on the President's job approval rating.
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| Kim Jong-ho, Moon's third senior secretary for civil affairs, took office on Aug. 13, 2020, but resigned only four months later amid an escalating conflict between the justice ministry and the prosecution. Korea Times file |
Moon named Shin Hyun-soo to the post Dec. 31, 2020, which was the first time for Moon to name a prosecutor to the position. Shin has expressed his intention to resign several times ― although he has been serving only a few weeks ― to protest being left out in the decision to retain controversial senior figures under the Supreme Prosecutor's Office in a recent reshuffle of key public prosecutors.
According to the presidential office, Shin is on leave and will return to work Feb. 22, but the offer of resignation has rattled Cheong Wa Dae, coming only weeks after his appointment
Shin is said to have protested new Justice Minister Park Beom-kye's decision to retain Lee Sung-yoon, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, known to have been a fervent supporter of former Justice Minister Choo.
The conflict between the prosecution and the justice ministry peaked under Choo, who resigned in December 2020 after failing to suspend Yoon from duty over allegations of misdeeds.
The presidential office has explained that Moon has not accepted Shin's resignation offer and is expecting him to return to the job soon.
But the opposition claims that controversies surrounding key presidential aides signals a weakened leadership. "Signs of a lame-duck presidency are deepening with the series of crises regarding the civil affairs secretaries," said Rep. Kim Sung-won, a vice floor leader of the main opposition conservative People Power Party, during a party meeting, Friday. "All of the civil affairs secretaries under this administration have had issues."
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| Shin Hyun-soo, Moon's fourth senior secretary for civil affairs, offered to resign this week over differences with the justice ministry regarding a latest reshuffle of senior prosecutors. The offer of resignation has rattled Cheong Wa Dae, coming only weeks after his appointment on Dec. 31. Korea Times file |
Cheong Wa Dae is going all out to prevent a Shin resignation scandal from causing further damage to the President ahead of major by-elections only weeks away to elect the Seoul and Busan mayors.
In a rare move, a senior presidential aide met with reporters urgently twice this week to explain the circumstances leading to Shin's offer to resign, after initially refusing to answer inquiries from the media. Normally, the presidential office almost never goes into such detail regarding personnel matters.
