The South Korean parliament yesterday endorsed the appointment of former minister of justice Hwang Kyo-ahn as prime minister, with his immediate priority being to tackle a Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak which has claimed 23 lives.
The move comes a month after Hwang was selected by South Korean President Park Geun-hye to become the prime minister, a post that has become something of a poisoned chalice under her administration.
Initially opposition lawmakers refused to vote, but changed their stance overnight following an appeal by Park’s ruling Saenuri Party that Hwang should take charge quickly to help spearhead the government’s drive to curb the spread of the virus.
Photo: EPA
The National Assembly endorsed Hwang’s appointment in a 156-to-120 vote.
The post had been vacant since former South Korean prime minister Lee Wan-koo was implicated in a bribery scandal and forced to quit in April after serving only two months.
The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has opposed Hwang over allegations he dodged mandatory military service with a controversial medical record and was involved in influence peddling.
“There is no change in our position that [Hwang] was an unqualified candidate, but we will keep a close eye on whether he will carry out his duty faithfully as control tower for MERS,” it said in a statement.
“It is a great relief that the new prime minister won his chance to perform his duty not too belatedly when time is pressing to end the MERS crisis,” Saenuri said in a statement.
Park’s government has been widely criticized for mishandling and downplaying the MERS crisis since the first case was reported on May 20.
MERS has spread at an unusually rapid pace in South Korea, infecting 165 and killing 23 in less than a month.
With the death toll rising on a near-daily basis and more new patients appearing, criticism has grown over the government’s ability to contain the outbreak — now the largest outside Saudi Arabia.
The prime minister is a largely symbolic post in South Korea, where power is concentrated in the presidency.
Under Park, it has proved to be a job that is both difficult to secure and equally tough to hold on to.
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