Minister Yoon Jin-sook’s ocean

Yoon Jin-sook, the new minister of oceans and fisheries who is in charge of Korea’s seas, now stands in front of an unknown ocean after passing through many difficulties. But she is not alone. President Park Geun-hye is standing beside her. Yoon`s job performance will be immediately considered the president’s eyes for talents. President Park, who hung on to her despite much political pressure, must have been resolved to take a chance on Minister Yoon.

No one knows how the sea, which gave Yoon a hard time even before she went on board her ship as the captain of the ministry, will test her again. The sea never remains quiet for a long time. Yoon faces five rough seas ahead of her.

She is like a little grain thrown into a big ocean. Plunging from “a pearl in the sand” to “a grain of sand in pearls,” she has lost much of her authority as the head of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. People wonder how she can revive the pride of some 3,800 employees of the ministry and 10,000 coast guards. The only way to do so is to prove that she is a pearl, even something more than a pearl with sand stuck on it, because of her sudden fame has caused high expectations on her.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, which has been revived for the first time in five years, has a long way to go. In addition, the ministry should take on another task on its shoulders – implementing the president’s economic initiative called “creative economy.” Even experienced bureaucrats are struggling these days to figure out how to do it. Yoon has to create a mountain and fill a sea on her own resources.

Is she capable of fathoming the depth of ocean and fisheries affairs? Her last title was the research chief at a state-run research institute, which is not good enough for gauging her administrative managerial ability. As she specialized in marine environment, there are concerns over how she would deal with such difficult challenges as fisheries, maritime territorial disputes, maritime diplomacy and the promotion of maritime industries. It is said that a minister cannot master all the areas. Nor does he or she have to. It is true but there is a precondition. A minister should be able to quickly understand the core of issues, present a vision and concentrate employees’ abilities on one goal.

As just all rivers never cease to flow until they finally flow into the sea, Yoon has no choice but to study hard. She is no longer a scholar, however. Results should come first. She faces the issue of selection and concentration. This is where she has to prove that the president’s choice was right. If Yoon should do a good job, few people would raise any issue with her quality.

She should never look down on others or put on airs. She has risen suddenly from obscurity. Such people tend to be obedient to their appointer but become very harsh on their subordinates as sort of a compensation. Ministers are so powerful that they have red carpets unfolded before them wherever they go. If one basks in such a high status, he or she could easily consider themselves really great one.

Some people argue that Yoon is a victim of lookism. It is a nonsense. Even the fact that she was named a minister makes her a success story of overcoming lookism, not a victim of lookism.

She was in trouble because she failed to make her value known during her parliamentary confirmation hearing. She even lost it. It is easy to see it if one reads the stenographic records of her confirmation hearing. If not, why did even a ruling party lawmaker say that he felt “shamed very much?”

The parliamentary hearing does not tell everything about her. Still, there is no guarantee that one will become an able minister even if he or she fails to give a strong and positive impression during a confirmation hearing. One should not be nothing but a smooth talker. However, the ability to deliver one’s quality, ideas and ambitions in a smart way is also competence. Those with such ability can persuade objectors and overcome difficult challenges. The presentation boom is not created for no reason.

However, the real issue with Yoon seems to be lying somewhere else. She used the word “maybe” 58 times during her confirmation hearing. She did not use it because of her humble attitude. She was not sure about what she remembered, what was true and what her job was about, which is seen as significant ineligibility as a leader. If she fails to ditch the habit, maybe we will call her “Minister Maybe.”

Now her ship has set sail. We hope that Yoon "betrays" anxious expectations and change people’s assessment of her to a positive one. Such a betrayal would always be welcomed. We hope that she will become a successful minister without sailing through a sea of pain.