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(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on Aug. 31)
Screening of nominees
Cheong Wa Dae needs to do its homework
The nominees for the prime minister and the two Cabinet ministers have decided to quit under pressure for their immoral and rule-breaking activities. Their premature resignation has raised a question whether the screening team at the Presidential Office has done a good job.
The three had to quit as they are unable to divert public criticism of their shady deals, property speculations and phony address registrations.
The nominees have also become victims of the faulty screening. The televised hearings highlighted their wrongdoing and unethical behaviors. Even some of their family members became victimized.
It is quite natural for these questionable appointees to quit the post. We must respect their human rights. If the investigation team at the Presidential Office had done a thorough job, the controversial nominees would not have appeared at the hearing.
The televised hearing revealed only the dark side of the appointees and the Korean society. Negative portraying and sometimes smearing of their controversial life has hurt themselves but also damaged the national image. This also dealt a dent to President Lee Myung-bak’s otherwise energetic start for the second half of his five-year presidency.
Ten years have passed since the introduction of the confirmation hearing system. In the United States, the federal agencies, including the FBI and Internal Revenue Service, are checking all private deals and activities of the appointees. Once the hearing is open, lawmakers field questions mostly on philosophy and policy vision. It means the Congress has no further reason to look into personal integrity and ethical standards of those screened-out nominees. Their failure to get confirmation was primarily attributable to their position on issues, not always to personal integrity.
As the document examination was lax in Korea, the hearing turned into a forum for digging up private activities of the nominees. This kangaroo-court-like hearing defamed and humiliated the nominees.
This is not the first time that the conservative Lee administration faced public criticism for picking unqualified nominees. A few of the inaugural Cabinet members and the Cheong Wa Dae secretaries were unable to get the nomination. They got public derision for being the Ko So-young and Kang Bu-ja Cabinet named after the two actresses.
They got the nickname of the Ko (Korea University graduate like President Lee), So (Somang Church goers like President Lee) and Young (southeastern region natives) Cabinet. It means no one could become a Cabinet member unless he or she is rich, a Somang Church member and born in the southwestern region. The Gang Bu-ja refers to the rich (Buja) in Gangnam.
This time the three nominees fail to get clearance on the five (Byong-Se-Bu-Wi-Pyo) checklist. In Korean, Byong denotes military service exemption, Se (tax evasion), Bu (property speculation), Wi (phony address registration) and Pyo (plagiarism). Literally, the Byong-se-bu-wi-pyo means the checklist of the sick parts.
Before picking a new prime minister, President Lee should change the lineup of the examination team for public postholders.
(END)
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