The controversy surrounding Rep. Kim Seung-won of the Democratic Party of Korea and Rep. Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party, nominated as justice minister and gender equality and family minister respectively in the second-term cabinet of President Lee Jae-myung, is going from bad to worse. As allegations and gossip casting doubt on their morality and qualifications as public officials pile up, opposition parties are flooding the government with demands that the two step down voluntarily or that the nominations be withdrawn.
Kim has suffered a fatal blow to his moral standing over allegations that he lobbied the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for early approval of a clinical trial for a new drug. He received a suspended indictment because no money or valuables changed hands directly, but the acquaintances who asked him for help with the lobbying are on trial on charges of promising to offer bribes. Also under scrutiny are allegations that he raised slush funds while serving on the Democratic Party's Gyeonggi Province chapter committee and a 2008 drunk driving offense. His record as co-chair of a group within the Democratic Party pushing to drop the indictments in cases involving President Lee is another point of contention. He is hard to see as a fit choice for justice minister, a post that demands higher standards of legal compliance, neutrality and moral transparency than any other.
Yong, tapped for the symbolic value of being young and female, has faced a fierce backlash over questions of unfairness and preferential treatment. She is drawing criticism for having won a parliamentary seat twice as a proportional representative through what critics call a loophole satellite party, and now for signaling she intends to hold the ministerial post and her legislative seat at the same time. With the noise continuing over turning a party that receives state subsidies into her personal vehicle, preferential use of airport VIP lounges and a lack of expertise, even members of the ruling party have described it as "double and triple privileges" and called on her to withdraw on her own.
The controversies surrounding the two nominees cannot be dismissed as mere political attacks or mudslinging by the opposition. The inappropriate nominations have undercut the very purpose of the reshuffle, which was to strengthen the government's policy momentum in its second year and win back public sentiment, and they have also damaged the presidential office's vetting process, which it had said was based on merit. In a Gallup Korea poll released on the 4th, President Lee's approval rating fell to 40%, the lowest since he took office. Support among people in their 20s sank to the 20% range. The rival parties have agreed to hold confirmation hearings starting on the 15th of this month, but it is questionable whether a justice minister nominee with a suspended indictment and a gender equality minister nominee accused of double standards deserve to be heard at all. To restore the government's weakened momentum, the presidential office should withdraw the nominations, or the nominees should step down, even at this late stage.
