Opposition to Boycott National Assembly Hearing on Nominees


By Lee Jin-woo
Staff Reporter

Leaders of the ruling Uri Party are in a serious mood as they open a meeting of the party’s emergency committee at the National Assembly in Yoido, Seoul, Tuesday. Uri Party lawmakers challenged President Roh Moo-hyun’s nomination of his cronies as new Cabinet ministers. / Korea Times Photo by Oh Dae-keun
Discord between the presidential office and the ruling party over some Cabinet minister nominees is escalating, as many lawmakers in the party urged President Roh Moo-hyun to scrap his wish to name outspoken lawmaker Rhyu Si-min as new minister of health and welfare.
Senior party legislators also expressed displeasure over the nomination Monday of Chung Sye-kyun, the Uri Party’s acting chairman, as minister of commerce, industry and energy.

President Roh carried out a partial Cabinet reshuffle affecting three other Cabinet ministers _ the unification minister, the labor minister and the commerce, industry and energy minister.

Roh plans to meet over dinner with a group of senior lawmakers from the party Thursday to express his strong wish to make Rhyu minister of health and welfare, Chong Wa Dae officials said Tuesday. Rhyu won the president’s confidence for his passionate defense of Roh during the presidential campaign in 2002, according to Roh’s aides.

Rep. Jung Jang-seon of the party said, “I hope the presidential office will understand that most party officials are not pleased with Rhyu becoming the new health and welfare minister.”

Rep. Kim Young-choon said, ``Rhyu is considered an erudite, capable politician, but it is feared that he would stir endless controversy once named as a Cabinet member.’’

Rhyu, a second-term lawmaker, has been often criticized by both opposition parties and mainstream legislators within the ruling party due to his aggressive, offensive and uncompromising remarks.

Senior ruling party lawmakers were also worried that the nomination of the party’s acting chairman, Chung, as new minister of commerce, industry and energy would put the party into another difficult situation ahead of its national convention scheduled for Feb. 18, and the local elections on May 31.

Rep. Lee Ho-woong said, “The presidential office should know that the party does not welcome Chung’s appointment to the Cabinet. It was a hasty, inconsiderate and inappropriate decision.”

Chung became acting chairman of the party in late October last year, replacing Rep. Moon Hee-sang, after the party’s defeats in the National Assembly by-elections.

Party sources said Rep. Yoo Jay-kun, a senior member of the party’s emergency committee formed after the by-elections, is favored to become interim chairman of the party until its national convention.

The largest opposition Grand National Party (GNP), which has waged its ``cold war’’ against the ruling camp after the unilateral passage of the contentious private school bill, strongly denounced Monday’s Cabinet reshuffle.

Operation of the already crippled legislature would not be normalized in the near future as the GNP decided to boycott Assembly hearings for the new nominees, especially Chairman Chung, who led the unilateral legislation of the private school reform measures on Dec. 9 last year, political sources said.

GNP officials said the party plans to form an ad hoc committee to examine the nominees and look at what it claims are systematic problems in the nomination procedure by the presidential office.

On Monday, President Roh nominated his former chief of staff Kim Woo-sik as deputy premier-minister of science and technology, and Lee Jong-seok, deputy chief of the presidential National Security Council (NSC), as unification minister. Lee Sang-soo, former legislator of the ruling party, was chosen to serve as labor minister.

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