Hwang turns to domestic issues amid economic, bird flu fears

Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn launched a new ministerial consultative body Monday, setting security, the economy, people’s livelihood and public safety as top items on his agenda for stable state management.

After initially emphasizing security, the prime minister appears to be turning to domestic tasks in the face of ever-growing signs of economic trouble and an outbreak of avian influenza across the nation.

Instead of taking over regular meetings of top presidential secretaries and the Cabinet in place of President Park Geun-hye, Hwang opted to create a semiweekly separate session with similar functions. It was built on a conference with deputy ministers he had been chairing since the Choi Soon-sil scandal broke out in late October, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

“The new initiative is envisioned to be the control tower for state affairs, spearheading timely discussions and responses over pressing tasks in the four designated areas and pursuing stable administrative management under the acting president,” the office said in a statement.

In the introductory edition, the participants agreed to improve measures to support the underprivileged ahead of winter -- in particular poor children and some 220,000 senior citizens living alone.

In an apparent bid to curb confusion over economic leadership, Hwang instructed incumbent Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho to remain in charge of overall economic policy, while Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission who had been nominated by Park to succeed Yoo, should focus on monitoring market trends.

Amid soaring criticism over the government’s failure to contain the AI epidemic earlier, the acting president also held a separate ministerial session to assess the damage so far and examine further preventive steps.

As of midnight Monday, nearly 8.9 million poultry had been slaughtered nationwide within less than a month, with another 1.5 million scheduled to be killed, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. This marks the largest-ever loss relative to the given time frame. 

The ministry issued a 48-hour “standstill” emergency ban on all movement to and from poultry farms, starting midnight Tuesday.

Hwang also called for preventive vaccinations and speedy supplies in all AI-related areas including habitats for migratory birds and hunting grounds across the country, while setting up an expanded team in charge of the issues.

Though the opposition camp has decided to accept the Hwang leadership for now, skepticism persists over the legitimacy of his rule, however temporary it may be.

The unpopular acting president is blamed for having failed to ward off -- or turning a blind eye to -- the scandal since his days as the justice minister. Over the last four years, he has also taken flak for stoking ideological tension and backing controversial programs such as the state-authored history schoolbooks.

The textbooks, a prototype of which reignited uproar following its recent introduction, is likely to be the first victim given bitter public sentiment. On Monday, three opposition parties hosted a seminar in cooperation with a coalition of 430 civic groups opposed to the plan, during which participants relayed criticism, pointing out factual errors and what they see as historical distortions in the book.

On top of the textbook controversy, Hwang is also in the hot seat as the opposition is seeking to thwart other contentious plans including the stationing of a US missile shield and agreements with Japan on military intelligence sharing and wartime sex slavery.

With an extra parliamentary session slated for Thursday to Dec. 31, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea chair Rep. Choo Mi-ae pledged to look into missile defense and other issues. 

The splinter People’s Party also called for action to scrap the textbooks and debate on what to do with other controversial projects among the ruling party, opposition and government.

“We should immediately mobilize a three-way consultative body to forsake state-authored schoolbooks, while reaching a collective decision on the next government’s handling of the to-be-deployed MD system and intelligence-sharing accord,” party interim chief Rep. Kim Dong-cheol said at an emergency meeting Monday.

To trade views on pending issues and the planned trilateral discussions, Hwang plans to visit the National Assembly on Wednesday and meet with Speaker Chung Sye-kyun, officials said.

At his news conference earlier in the day, Chung also expressed his willingness for talks with the acting president “as soon as possible” to foster cooperation between the parliament and government in a way that “lessen the people’s concerns” over the faltering economy and uncertain political situation.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)