Lee's inclusive Cabinet: Right idea, wrong people?
There is a Korean saying that reminds leaders of the importance of putting the right people in the right positions: “Personnel is everything.” In reality, however, filling key posts with qualified and suitable people seems to be much trickier than it sounds. Previous Korean presidents have repeatedly struggled with this. They have often eroded their own credibility by nominating people whose…
President Lee Jae Myung's decision to reshuffle his Cabinet has proven to be a costly mistake. In his attempt to present an inclusive government, he has inadvertently surrounded himself with individuals whose qualifications and ethics are deeply questionable. Two of the six nominees, Kim Seung-won and Yong Hye-in, are now under intense pressure to resign.
Kim Seung-won, a legislator from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, has been accused of attempting to expedite the clinical trials of a COVID-19 drug through improper means. In October 2021, he is alleged to have lobbied the food and drug safety administrator to fast-track the request submitted by a biotech startup called Genencell.
After Kim sent a text message to the administrator, the request was approved just two weeks later. This incident has sparked allegations of corruption and questionable ethics on Kim's part, putting his nomination in serious jeopardy.
Similarly, Yong Hye-in, nominated for the Gender Equality Minister position, is also facing significant pressure to step down. While the exact nature of her alleged wrongdoing is not explicitly stated, her inclusion in the Cabinet reshuffle raises concerns about the lack of thorough vetting on President Lee's part. The fact that two key nominees have come under scrutiny so early in the process suggests that President Lee's attempt to create an inclusive government may be undermined by the presence of unsuitable individuals in key positions.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Lee's inclusive Cabinet: Right idea, wrong people koreatimes.co.kr
