President Roh Moo Hyun has decided not to accept the resignation of chief of staff Kim Woo Sik. Kim had submitted his resignation over the problematic appointment of Lee Ki Jun as Deputy Prime Minister of Education and Human Resources Development. The affair cannot be thought about without Kim. There has to be an improvement in Cheong Wa Dae’s system for making and evaluating potential appointments, and there has to be a change in the people involved in that process. Kim should step down from his position.
The Cheong Wa Dae civil affairs office had reported that Lee was not qualified, noting in a written report that “the very reason he was removed as president of Seoul National University makes appointing him as deputy prime minister of education and human resources development problematic.” The personnel office submitted a similar opinion. The appointment council headed up by Kim, however, ignored such common sense judgment and cause real problems as a result. That is why the greatest responsibility for the whole affair lies with Kim.
They say that at the council’s meeting Kim never said much one way or another about appointing Lee, but that does not excuse him of responsibility. There may be an organized system of processing potential appointments, but the reality is that human connections lead the way, and when the chief of staff stays silent about a man he has known well for 40 years it is plenty enough for his behavior to be interpreted as implied approval. He should have sided with the working-level teams that found Lee to be not qualified and actively sought to verify the facts. Whether he failed to do so by intention or not, failing to do so was close to negligence of duty.
That Lee’s son used dual citizenship to get into university through the special selection process for non-nationals left serious doubts about him and was what led to his resignation. It is hard to understand how Kim could have known the details about how Lee’s son got into university as a special exception and still said nothing about it during the review process. His silence becomes a decisive reason why the appointment council he is head of will find it hard to win outside confidence. It must be understood that not holding Kim responsible is similar to the effect of having a lizard lose its tail, and that this becomes an obstacle to reform at Cheong Wa Dae and winning the public’s favor
Prime Minister Lee Hae Chan also made a serious mistake in supporting Lee Ki Jun and taking his ethical shortcomings lightly just to accomplish specific policy goals, and so the prime minister should apologize and make sure he does not repeat the same mistake. Since the final stop for review and appointment is the role of Cheong Wa Dae, however, we do not think the affair requires that the prime minister step down.
The Hankyoreh, 11 January 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Hold Kim Woo Sik Responsible |
