President-elect to break away from Moon administration’s Cabinet gender quota

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol will not adopt a gender or regional quota for his presidential transition committee or his Cabinet when he begins his presidency.

A key official on Yoon’s team has said that his personnel will be based on their talent and ability, Yonhap reported Sunday.

“To serve the public, you need to look at their talent, not their story,” the official was quoted as saying by the news agency.

The move is a departure from a gender quota during the Moon Jae-in administration that sought to fill 30 percent of Cabinet posts with women.

The 30 percent goal was reached once during 2020 under the current administration. However, after several women ministers left their positions in 2021 the gender ratio plunged.

Yoon announced Ahn Cheol-soo as the chairman and Rep. Kwon Young-se of the People Power Party as the vice chairperson of the transition committee on Sunday.

The move to break away from the gender quota of 30 percent will also apply next month when the president-elect’s pick of high ranking roles in government including prime minister and ministers will begin to be announced.

Though Yoon has announced plans to install a task force dedicated to balanced regional development, a quota to hire staff from the Yeongnam and Honam areas -- two regions with strong liberal support -- is not being considered, according to reports.

In a briefing Saturday, Yoon’s spokesperson Kim Eun-hye described Yoon’s system as a transparent rule-based one in which people “proudly compete and receive rewards for their talent and ability.”

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)