[Editorial] It Should Not Be a `Cutoff Measure` for Scandals

Even though president Kim Dae-Jung is announcing a cabinet reshuffle, public opinion does not seem very keen on the announcement. There is little interest or expectation shown towards the details of the reshuffling. Rather, some react by criticizing that the administration is trying to quickly settle the crisis now when it should have settled it earlier.

The reshuffling is quite important in the sense that the administration is clearing up the present atmosphere and finishing up its last year. However, the reason for the low interest on the part of the citizens is that the government currently faces suspicions about its involvement in various scandals, and the leadership has lost public trust as a result of its constant lying. The suspicion that the government is hurriedly promoting the cabinet reshuffle in order to breathe in fresh air as the First Lady`s nephew was found to have led the `treasure excavation scandal`, which even involved the President’s senior economic secretary, also comes from the same sense of mistrust.

This suggests that the present administration will not be successful even if it reshuffles the cabinet and turn public opinion around until it restores the citizens’ trust in the political leadership. It does not mean that the reshuffling is not needed. It is more correct to say that not only the reshuffle, but also the reform of the entire personnel staff aimed to clean out the ones related in various scandals, came too late. The problem is that the reshuffling and personnel reform in the offices of the Chong Wa Dae’s secretaries is not enough to appease the people’s pent-up anger and distrust against corruption.

Therefore, it will be ineffective to try to cover up the various `scandal suspicions`, or distract the people`s attention by reshuffling the Cabinet. Only a thorough clarification of the suspicions will bring about the maximal effect. As the senior presidential secretaries are implicated one after another and the governmental institutions are mobilized, the President cannot expect a proper administrative management by saying he was the only one who did not know. That is why the citizens are doubting, `what good would it do?`. In order to settle the situations, president Kim should not refuse dealing with them directly.

To emphasize once again, the reshuffling of the Cabinet and clarifying the scandals are two different things. The administration must acknowledge that if the reshuffling process raises suspicions that it is merely a `cutoff measure` for scandals, it will only exacerbate the current crisis.