The resignation on Monday of Han Man-soo, President Park Geun-hye’s nominee to head the Fair Trade Commission, triggered an outpouring of criticism of the president’s appointment style and calls for punishment of her secretaries responsible for making background checks on her nominees.
Even leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party now say enough is enough. They have joined the main opposition Democratic United Party in blasting Park’s unique style of making personnel appointments. The DUP went further by demanding that Park apologize to the nation for the continuing appointment disaster.
But Park has remained silent since Han’s resignation. On the day he resigned, becoming the seventh nominee for a ministerial or vice ministerial post to quit in the process of confirmation hearings, it was business as usual at Cheong Wa Dae.
Park was informed of Han’s intention to resign the previous day, but that did not affect her schedule on Monday. As planned, she conferred certificates of appointment on her secretaries, including Kwak Sang-do, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, who was responsible for vetting nominees for top posts.
That indicated Park had no intention of either holding her personnel-related secretaries responsible or apologizing for the appointment debacle. Now she seems determined to maintain her go-it-alone appointment style, no matter what people say about it.
Park reportedly uses a top-down style in selecting people for key posts. When there is a post to be filled, she is known to pick a candidate herself from among people she has had her eye on. Little is known about her aides with whom she consults in the selection process.
It is only after Park has made a choice that the vetting process begins. This means officials in charge of conducting background checks usually do not have enough time to do their job thoroughly.
After Han’s resignation, Cheong Wa Dae officials were quoted as saying that they did not have enough time to confirm the allegations that he had parked some of his wealth overseas.
To prevent a repetition of appointment failures, Park needs to follow the bottom-up approach. When she has to make an appointment, she should let the presidential commission on personnel affairs recommend two to three candidates after checking their qualifications. Then all she has to do is just pick one of them.
If Park wants to keep her own appointment practice, she at least needs to give her personnel secretaries enough time to make background checks fastidiously. Otherwise, she won’t be able to avert further appointment fiascos going forward.
There is one more thing Park needs to bear in mind. According to reports, Park uses two key criteria in picking nominees for key posts ― professionalism and governing philosophy.
Her emphasis on these standards is understandable in light of her goal ― to shift the focus of government policies from quantity-oriented economic growth to quality-oriented growth geared toward individual happiness.
But there are other criteria that are just as important, if not more ― fairness and representativeness. On the campaign trail, she repeatedly pledged her commitment to national reconciliation. If she wants to improve national harmony, she should make sure that her appointments are fair and balanced.
Park has wasted much of her political capital on government reorganization and personnel appointments. She needs to get her act together and regain the public’s confidence to push her reform agenda.
