Roh’s New Cabinet Appointments Eschew Experience for Ideology
The Blue House has announced the new appointments for the Foreign, Defense, and UniFiction ministries, plus the new head of the National Intelligence Service. With the exception of Defense — to be filled by the Army Chief of Staff — the appointees look like a bunch of political hacks. I’ll update as I find out more.
This post is adapted and updated from previous posts, including the scorecard I presented the other day.
UniFiction
President Roh is likely to choose between Kim Ha-joong, Seoul’s ambassador to Beijing, and Lee Jae-joung, senior presidential advisor on North Korea policy, as his new unification minister, they said.
The other candidate for the job is Lee Jae-joung, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification. From that limited information, it sounds like Kim is a more likely to be a career diplomat than a party hack.
Result: Lee Jae-Joung. And who among us would question the policy advice Roh has been getting on North Korea? More:
Lee, 62, formerly served as president of Sungkonghoe University, a Seoul-based seminary, and now holds the title of senior vice chairman of the National Unification Advisory Council. Lee is known to follow outgoing Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok’s North Korea policies.
Update: Oh, and did I mention that he’s a con?
Defense
As for the next defense chief, he said that among the candidates are Army Chief of Staff Kim Jang-soo, former Air Force Chief of Staff Bae Yang-il, and Jang Young-dal, a senior ruling Uri Party official.
Obviously, I would prefer a career officer for several reasons: to avoid widening the distance between this administration and the armed forces, and to inject some military reality in the government when it’s making some of the most critical national security policy changes in 50 years.
Result: Kim Jang-Soo. At least it wasn’t Jang YoungDal. More:
The new defense minister has wide experience in military reforms and is expected to exert his outstanding expertise in resolving a number of pending military issues, like the takeover of South Korea’s wartime command of its troops from the United States and the North Korean nuclear crisis, Park said.
Foreign Affairs and Trade
Song Min-soon, Roh’s chief security advisor, is said to be almost certain to succeed Ban as foreign minister. Some do not rule out the possibility that Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan will be promoted to assume the post, however.
Song, as we already know, is no diplomat, an America-hater, and most likely one of Roh’s Taliban. His appointment would not be a good thing for U.S.-Korea relations for the duration of Roh’s term in office.
Result: Song Min-Soon. In the wake of all the shit this man has tracked around before even being appointed, we shouldn’t lack for good material. More:
The 58-year-old Song, who served previously as South Korea’s top negotiator at the six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear problem, is known for having mapped out the nation’s key security and foreign policies. Song is credited for his outstanding expertise in foreign and security policy and abundant experience in diplomatic negotiations, Park said.
National Intelligence Service
The appointment of Kim Man-Bok may be the most troubling of all, because of reports of a feud between himself and the outgoing NIS chief, who strongly backed the Il Shim Hoe / North Korean Fifth Column investigation. Kim has the advantage of being is a 30-year NIS career man, but his close ties to outgoing UniFiction Minister Lee Jong-Seok and reported ambivalence about the investigation are very worrying when the next NIS Chief will have to investigate possible malfeasance by politicians and their allies. With that investigation now on the cusp of blowing wide open and Uri sounding very threatened by its results, it’s reason to be concerned that Kim might try to stifle its progress.