Park bets on safe PM choice

Kim Yong-jun, left, nominee for prime minister, speaks at a press conference at the Korea Banking Institute building in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, while President-elect Park Geun-hye looks on. / Korea Times photo by Sohn Yong-suk

Transition team chairman Kim Yong-jun nominated

President-elect Park Geun-hye trumped all guesses Thursday and named her transition team Chairman Kim Yong-jun as her nominee for the first prime minister of her inaugural Cabinet.

Kim, 75, headed the Constitutional Court and is respected for overcoming a physical handicap.

But the beauty of Park’s choice is that even the opposition may find it very hard to oppose his confirmation because of Kim’s impeccable record as a judge. He is from Seoul, beating expectations that the first prime minister nominee would be from the Jeolla provinces, the rival region of Park’s home base in the Gyeongsang provinces.

With Kim, it is likely that Park may be rethinking her power-sharing formula with the prime minister.

Also, she went back on her promise to not select any members of her transition team for key government posts.

Park made the nomination in a news conference held at the team’s office in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.

“The prime minister nominee has been at the forefront in putting law and order in place based on his firm personal beliefs and principles throughout his life as a judge,” said Park.

“I believe he is the right person to clear public anxieties about tattered social safety and open up an era of happiness where the socially weak are protected,” she said.

Kim contracted polio at the age of three, but despite the resultant physical disability passed the state bar exam and became the youngest judge in the country. Since then, he worked for nearly 30 years as a judge in various courts, and served as the president of the Constitutional Court from 1994 to 2000.

“Though there still remains a parliamentary confirmation process, I will do my best to assist the president and oversee each administrative ministry under the directive of the president,” Kim said in a press briefing at after the nomination was announced. “I promise the people that I will sincerely carry out my duties.”

Under law the post of prime minister is subject to parliamentary approval following a confirmation hearing.

The designation is the latest in a series of steps toward forming Park’s incoming administration. Park has so far announced restructuring plans for ministries and the presidential office. She has yet to select Cabinet members. Park earlier pledged to give the prime minster greater authority in her government.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) expressed concerns regarding the nomination.

“Looking at the course of his life, the nomination by the President-elect seems appropriate,” said Rep. Lee Un-ju, a DUP spokeswoman. “However, the nominee has not been communicating well with the people. He evaded questions raised by the media and flatly delivered what’s on the President-elect’s mind instead of speaking for himself.”

The DUP further questioned Kim’s historical perspective referring to a judgment made in 1996. Back then, he gave the opinion that former presidents who violated the constitutional order when oppressing civic movements, were in “limited” violation of the Constitution since any lawsuits were against the principle of non-retroactive criminal punishment.

“We need to further verify whether Kim is the right person to be prime minister,” Lee concluded. <The Korea Times/Chung Min-uck>