South Korea’s presidential office yesterday named a new prime minister and finance minister, the highest-level shake-up since President Park Geun-hye’s administration was rocked by a scandal involving a friend accused of meddling in state affairs.
However, opposition parties denounced the reshuffle as a bid by Park to divert attention from the political crisis, which has dragged her approval rating to an all-time low.
The Blue House named South Korean Financial Services Commission Chairman Yim Jong-yong as finance minister and deputy prime minister.
Photo: AP
Yim, who replaces Yoo Il-ho, has been well-regarded by policymakers and market participants in his current role.
Kim Byong-joon, a senior presidential secretary during former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun’s administration, was named to replace Hwang Kyo-ahn as prime minister.
The prime minister’s role in South Korea is largely administrative and requires parliamentary approval.
Kim initially scheduled a news conference, but later called it off, saying he would speak further today.
“This situation is moving pretty quickly and I will voice my thoughts tomorrow [today] after having listened to those around me,” Kim told reporters, declining to comment further.
Appointing Kim, who has a reputation as a liberal, appears to be a bid by the conservative Park to placate the opposition and soothe public anger over the scandal involving her friend, Choi Soon-sil, who is in custody and under investigation by prosecutors, but the shake-up, which included a new minister of public safety and security, did little to please the opposition.
“This replacement of the prime minister and finance minister can’t be happening without discussing it with the opposition,” People’s Party leader Park Jie-won told a party meeting.
“We won’t stand by such a move to turn around the current situation with the personnel change,” Park Jie-won said, adding that his party would boycott the nomination hearings.
Neither Yoo nor Hwang have been implicated in the scandal, but Yoo had been under pressure from opposition lawmakers over his close relationship with Park Geun-hye.
“The Blue House named Kim as the right person to lead the Cabinet for the country’s future and to overcome current hardships,” presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk said.
A growing number of opposition politicians, as well as many members of the public, have called for Park Geun-hye to step down, although the opposition has not called for impeachment proceedings.
Despite numerous scandals over the years, no South Korean president has ever resigned or been successfully impeached.
If Park Geun-hye, 64, were to step down before the end of her five-year term, an election would be held in 60 days, with the winner serving five years, making for a high-stakes race for which neither of the main parties has prepared.
Park Geun-hye apologized on TV last week for giving Choi access to draft speeches during the first months of her presidency, but that did little to deflect demands that she reveal the full nature of her ties with Choi and whether Choi enjoyed favors because of her friendship with the president.
Choi, 60, arrived at the prosecutors’ office in Seoul yesterday morning in handcuffs for a third day of questioning.
Prosecutors asked a court for a warrant to arrest Choi after charging her with abuse of power and attempted fraud, a court official said.
Prosecutors have said they are looking into allegations Choi forced conglomerates to donate funds to nonprofit foundations using her friendship with the president and whether she benefited financially from the foundations.
Choi last week told the Segye Ilbo newspaper that she received drafts of the president’s speeches after Park Geun-hye’s election victory, but denied she had access to other official material, influenced state affairs or benefited financially.
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