Lim Chae-jung Named As Head of the Government Transition Committee

President-elect Roh Moo-hyun named on Dec. 25 Lim Chae-jung, head of the Millennium Democratic Party Policy Committee, as the chairman of his government transition committee.

Spokesman for the President-elect Lee Nak-yeon said names of the committee members composed of around 25 would be disclosed on Dec. 26.

The spokesman said, “The process of selecting transition committee members is almost finalized. On Dec. 26 when the formation of the transition team is completed, around on Dec. 26 the transition team will begin government takeover process after a committee launching ceremony.” Mr. Lee also added, “As far as I know, most of the heads and members of each sub-panel in the transition committee will be composed of experts in certain fields, instead of politicians. Therefore, the government takeover team will be focusing on policies and practical affairs.”

As candidates for the head of each sub-committee, Kim Byung-jun, Kookmin University professor and chief policy advisor to the President-elect, is considered as the head of the politics and administration sub-panel, Yoon Yong-kwan, professor of the Seoul National University, and Shu Dong-man, professor of Sangji University, are mentioned as the head of the diplomacy and security sub-panel and Yoo Jong-il, professor at the Korea Development Institute, and Lee Jung-woo, professor of Kyungbuk University are mentioned as the candidate for the head of the economic sub-panel and Kim Dae-whan, professor of Inha University is considered as the candidate for the social field.

It has been also known that most members of each sub-panel in the transition team will be named from president-elect`s policy advisory committee that mapped out his election pledges and policies during the Dec. 19 presidential election.

Previously, there were discussions underway within the President-elect`s inner circle, that one of the MDP`s heavyweight politicians should be named as the head of the government transition committee and a lot of politicians should be allowed to serve on the committee. However, the President-elect expressed his opposition to the idea by saying, “The activities of the transition committee should be limited to certain areas, such as having a grasp of, analyzing and assessing the outgoing government`s policies and coming up with alternatives.” It has been known the MDP finally reached a conclusion to form the government takeover team focusing on government polices and practical affairs, instead of naming politicians as members of the committee.

However, there was a fuss over the formation of the transition committee within the MDP, because some 10 prime players who had worked for the MDP`s election campaign committee held meetings on Dec. 24-25 in a row and proposed the President-elect that he should appoint some politicians as members of the committee on the ground that if the transition team is composed of only professor advisors with no political experiences, it might be difficult to dominant public servants.

“Lim Chae-jung headed the MDP`s Policy Committee and was in charge of dealing with the president-elect`s election pledges and policies as the head of the policy-making committee during the election. In light of that, Mr. Lee is a right person to carry out the government transition process in accordance with the President-elect`s envisioned formation of the takeover committee focusing on government policies and practical affairs,” the spokesman said.

Jeong-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com