Smaller Cheong Wa Dae

What matters most is to select ‘good people’

President-elect Park Geun-hye’s vision for her new presidential office structure, unveiled Monday, can be summed up as slimmed down and simplified. This direction is reflected well in the fact that the title of the bureaucratic unit at Cheong Wa Dae will be changed from the Office of the President to the Office of Secretaries.

True, Park wants Cheong Wa Dae to become a “smaller but efficient’’ office so that presidential secretaries will focus on their duties of assisting the chief executive by preparing national issues in advance. In contrast, the prime minister and Cabinet ministers will be empowered to exercise power and authority in state affairs, not interfered with by presidential aides.

Park’s commitments to the division of power, announced last week, appears to be a step in the right direction, considering her campaign promise to make ministers more responsible.

The slimmed-down Cheong Wa Dae will consist of two offices, led by the chief of staff and the national security chief, and nine senior secretaries for politics, economy, foreign affairs and national security among others.

The post of chief of policy staff will be abolished in consideration of the fact that the newly created deputy prime minister for the economy will play the role of sole control tower for economic affairs. And the posts of six senior officers at the current Blue House of President Lee Myung-bak will be removed, too.

Instead, the Office of National Security will be established as part of Park’s efforts to respond to national crises swiftly and draw up long-term foreign affairs and security policies. Given the volatile security situation in Northeast Asia, the office’s installation can be welcomed. But the fact that the existing post of senior secretary for foreign affairs and national security will be kept may cause confusion.

Most noteworthy is the personnel committee to be led by the presidential chief of staff. A similar organization was in operation during the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration but was dismantled at the start of the incumbent government.

The creation of the personal affairs committee is desirable, taking into consideration the need to ensure fairness in the president’s appointments. The repeated fiascos in outgoing President Lee’s appointments ― largely based on cronyism ― during his five-year term should serve as a valuable lesson for the incoming president.

Almost all previous governments had vowed a small presidential office, but over time, such pledges waned without fail, resulting in a bigger Cheong Wa Dae toward the end of the presidency. Hopefully, the incoming administration won’t repeat the same mistake.

It is not the structure but people that are most important. Park and her transition team must recruit qualified people armed with professionalism and morality through a precise and stepped-up screening process. In the end, the success of the incoming government will depend largely on how Park chooses “good people.’’ <The Korea Times>