Ruling party’s `Young Six` Called for a Reprimand

The six, first-term, Millennium Democratic Party representatives called for a drastic reform on appointment policy and asked for a reprimand of those who recommended Ahn Dong-Soo as Minister of Justice.

The six, first-term, members of the National Assembly, including Kim Tae-Hong, Chung Bum-Gu, Chung Jang-Sun, Park In-Sang, Lee Jong-Geol, and Kim Sung-Ho announced a statement with a title `What do Korean people really want?`. The said, ``We want a complete reformation on appointment policy experiencing this incident.``

They said, ``As we watch the appointment process of the Minister of Justice, we want to point out that there has been a problem with the function of advisors to the president.`` ``We want to urge that those who have been related with the appointment of the minister have to bear the responsibility for their misbehavior.`` ``All processes of appointment has to be transparently exposed based on a legitimate procedure,`` they remarked.

``If the appointment policy depends on an unofficial line, rather than an official system, it should be a serious blockade to the president for the proper state management,`` they added.

They indicated that there could be more actions depending on the authorities’ reaction by saying, ``The announcement of the statement is just the first action and there are more first or second term lawmakers who support us if needed.``

They also said that they resigned positions they held in the party such as the chair of public relations committee, deputy spokesman, a cabinet member of the party, and the deputy director, etc..

On the same day, Chung Dae-Chul, a member of the supreme council, also said at a council meeting, ``It is important for the party to have a function of restraining the administration by saying `No` or `We have to think about it again` to the president.``

However, Chun Yong-Hak, the spokesman, said at a briefing, ``It is time to unite to lead this harsh political situation.`` ``There was no saying about a reprimand and it is not a good time to speak about that kind of issues.``

Meanwhile, Kwon Chul-Hyun, the spokesman for the Grand National Party, commented, ``The appointment policy of current government tends to depend on the royalty levels or the people’s regional background, rather than their ability, nature, and moral. And the procedure depends on emotion and friendship, instead of a legitimate system for a fair verification process.`` ``President Kim Dae-Jung has to change his attitude for a more systematic state management style and he also must dialogue with opposition parties,`` Kwon urged.

Yoon Young-Chan yyc11@donga.com