President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's nomination of his close aide as justice minister is casting a dark cloud over his much-avowed efforts to forge cooperative ties with opposition parties and promote national unity. It is likely to deepen a political confrontation between the outgoing and incoming governments.
Yoon announced eight Cabinet nominees Wednesday, three days after he nominated as many nominees for major government posts. What's most controversial and surprising is Yoon's selection of Han Dong-hoon, one of his closest prosecutor colleagues, as justice minister. Yoon should have refrained from making such a nomination because it is seen as his bid to take control of the prosecution.
Yoon has vowed to keep his campaign promise to close the presidential office for civil affairs and let the Ministry of Justice and the Korean National Police Agency take over the roles of the office. Thus, the ministry will be in charge of screening candidates of ministers and other ranking officials as well as uncovering corruption cases in officialdom.
No one knows better than Yoon that Han's nomination will trigger a strong backlash from the opposition. Han, now vice president of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, had worked closely with Yoon for 20 years. They investigated major cases, including a massive corruption scandal that led to the impeachment and imprisonment of former President Park Geun-hye.
After Yoon became prosecutor general in 2019, Han investigated a corruption case involving Cho Kuk, President Moon Jae-in's confidant and pick for justice minister. Yoon and Han lost favor with Moon because they targeted Cho. The justice ministry demoted Han and tried to force Yoon out. This certainly made Yoon develop his presidential ambition.
Against this backdrop, the nomination of Han could be interpreted as Yoon's move to launch a political retaliation against President Moon and his government. Yoon defended his nomination by saying that Han is the best person to lead the justice ministry with his brilliant career in the prosecution and judicial administration. Yoon also said that Han is the ideal person with a good command of English and vast experience in international affairs who can modernize the judicial system and bring it to global standards.
However, the soon-to-be opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) denounced Han's nomination as a prelude to political revenge against the Moon administration. Its floor leader Park Hong-keun dubbed the nomination an “appointment terror,” criticizing Yoon for trying to turn the country into the “Republic of the Prosecution.” He called on Yoon to withdraw the nomination immediately.
The brewing conflict between the outgoing ruling camp and the incoming one is expected to escalate. The nomination of Han came after the DPK decided to push for legislation to deprive the prosecution of its investigative power. Yoon's conservative party ― the People Power Party (PPP) ― is against the DPK's move, arguing that the legislation is aimed at preventing the prosecution from investigating allegations of corruption and misdeed raised against the Moon administration.
The rival parties are likely to clash head-on during confirmation hearings for Yoon's ministerial nominees who are under fire for a lack of diversity and innovative ideas. Such a clash, if it escalates, could block the Yoon administration from getting off to a smooth start. In that case, Yoon's pledge for national unity and cooperative ties with the opposition will go up in smoke. We urge both sides to avert a political deadlock through dialogue and compromise.