New S. Korean President's call for public to suggest Cabinet members ‘more than a populist move'
SEOUL - K-pop singer IU for Cultural Minister?
How about Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho of the Parasite movie fame or even popular show host Yoo Jae-suk?
A crowdsourcing exercise by the administration of the new South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, seeking public inputs towards the forming of its new Cabinet, has yielded these amusing results, along with more considered suggestions.
Mr Lee, who took office on June 4, had mooted the crowdsourcing idea as a 'meaningful first step towards the people becoming the main actors in running the state'.
The 62-year-old former human rights lawyer was elected on June 3 in a snap election after the ouster of former president Yoon Suk Yeol over the botched martial law attempt of Dec 3, 2024.
Given the lack of a transition period unlike usual elections, Mr Lee has been working with the old Cabinet of his predecessor Yoon, while taking steps to form his own Cabinet.
While the unusual crowdsourcing exercise is widely seen as a populist move, observers say that it is a shrewd decision by Mr Lee in more ways than one.
'Through this public nomination system, Mr Lee is able to not only cater to his supporters by giving them a voice, but also buy time to vet nominations thoroughly before formalising his Cabinet,' said Kyonggi University political science and law lecturer Hahm Sung-deuk.
In his social media post on June 10 promoting the initiative, President Lee said that the process marks the beginning of a 'national sovereign government' and pledged transparency and fairness in ensuring that only 'truly qualified people' are selected.
The public nominations were open from June 10 to 16, allowing South Koreans to submit their choice of Cabinet ministers, vice-ministers or heads of public institutions along with supporting reasons, via a dedicated website, a dedicated e-mail account and even through direct messages to Mr Lee's social media accounts. Self-nominations were accepted.
By the closing date of the public nomination exercise, some 74,000 suggestions had been received, with the posts of health minister, justice minister and prosecutor-general receiving the most number of nominations.
South Korean media reported that while there were throwaway nominations like suggestions that ex-president Yoon, a former prosecutor-general, return to the top prosecutor job, there were more considered nominations too.
These included one for former director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Jeong Eun-kyeong, who had led the nation through the Covid-19 pandemic, to be considered for the health minister position.
The tight-knit medical community, in particular, had called for doctors to actively nominate medical field experts with good understanding of medical issues for the health minister position, in order to resolve the fall-out from the mass doctors' walk-out in February 2024 when the previous Yoon administration tried to unilaterally increase medical school admissions.
This would be an example of political figures or influential people in various sectors of South Korean society mobilising their support bases to influence the outcome, said Sogang University's Associate Professor Hannah Kim.
She also pointed out that there would inevitably be concerns that the selection process 'prioritises popularity over competence' although the public nomination process may appeal to voters 'frustrated by elite-driven decision-making and the revolving-door of establishment politics'.
Such a nomination process many also deepen existing divisions, given the country's political polarisation driven in part by extreme fandom in both the opposing conservative and liberal camps, said Prof Kim.
'Moreover, President Lee is likely to face backlash regardless of which decision he makes – whether he goes with popular suggestions or ignores them and appoints allies or controversial figures . And with the latter, this could increase cynicism about democratic participation itself ,' she added.
At a press briefing on June 16, a presidential spokesperson gave the assurance that the public nomination system is 'not a popularity contest', so the recommendations would only be for reference.
The presidential office has said that the received nominations will be put through rigorous vetting first, with final nominations to be released later at an unspecified date.
Prof Hahm says such a time-buying tactic is a smart political move by Mr Lee, who has already faced roadblocks in the formation of his government in his first week of office.
'It allows him to further scrutinise his future nominations, to make sure there are no more controversies to trip them up,' he said.
A senior presidential aide was forced to resign four days after his appointment, after allegations surfaced of his undisclosed real estate holdings and a hefty 1.5 billion won (S$1.4 million) loan he allegedly took out using a friend's name.
Mr Lee's pick for the prime ministerial position, Mr Kim Min-seok, has also come under intense scrutiny over his past conviction for accepting illegal political funds and his significant increase in assets over the last five years.
Mr Kim, a seasoned lawmaker from Mr Lee's ruling Democractic Party (DP) who had warned about Yoon's possible martial law attempt as early as August 2024 and was a key strategist in Mr Lee's presidential campaign, has refuted the allegations and called them politically motivated attacks by the erstwhile ruling People Power Party (PPP) .
The PPP, now the main opposition party, had staged a rally in Seoul on June 20 calling for the withdrawal of Mr Kim's nomination.
Referring to Mr Lee's legal woe s that have been temporarily put on hold because of his presidency, a PPP spokesperson said: 'If both the president and the prime minister have moral issues and a history of criminal offences, we cannot expect proper appointments of public officials below them!'
Mr Kim, who met the foreign press corps in Seoul on June 17, said that he understands the reasons behind the attacks and is optimistic that he will win the opposition over with his patience.
'However, even if I understand their opposition, that doesn't mean that the legal allegations that are untrue, are true. I would definitely address all of the issues and do my best to clear the nomination hearing,' said Mr Kim, whose parliamentary confirmation hearings will take place on June 24-25.
Mr Lee himself has expressed confidence that Mr Kim would be able to 'explain himself sufficiently' .
Pointing out Mr Kim's contributions during the martial law crisis and the ruling Democratic Party's majority in the Parliament, Prof Hahm said it was unlikely that Mr Kim's nomination would fail.
He said: 'Do not forget that this is still the 'honeymoon' period for the president. His popularity is running high and people would not want anything to obstruct his presidency at this moment.'
Wendy Teo is The Straits Times' South Korea correspondent based in Seoul. She covers issues concerning the two Koreas.
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