NPA and NTA Heads and Follow-up Appointment of Vice Ministers Named Next Week

President Roh Moo-hyun is expected to make follow-up appointments by naming vice ministers for 19 government ministries and other agencies early next week.

The president is planning to announce his choices for the heads of the National Police Agency (NPA) and the National Tax Agency (NTA) among the four major law enforcement agencies, along with those for vice ministers. He will also appoint the head of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) as well as first, second, third assistant director of the NIS.

The president however decided to retain the current heads of the Board of Audit and Inspection, the Financial Supervisory Commission, and the Fair Trade Commission whose office terms have not yet ended.

President Roh said Feb. 28 at a meeting with his senior secretaries, “I hope that the selection of vice ministers will be finalized by this Sunday evening.” He also added, “If Prime Minister Goh Kun and the other ministers have important information or opinions on potential appointees, they should submit it by today or tomorrow.”

“A personnel management team in charge of the selection process for government ministers will lead the verification process of the candidates for each deputy ministerial post. The final candidate list should be reported to the Prime Minister first, after gathering the opinions from each ministry if necessary, to then move on to the desk of the president,” Roh said.

He further stated, “I will not intervene in the appointment process of deputy ministers, but will gather general opinions on the candidates and respect those opinions if not sharply different from mine.”

On the criteria for selection, a senior official at Cheong Wa Dae hinted that the president is likely to fill deputy ministerial posts with those candidates having considerable experience and expertise in their relevant fields by saying, “Unlike the selection of ministers in which subjective standards acted as a prime factor - such as the ability to manage relevant ministries, the capabilities for carrying out administrative work and expertise will serve as the main factor for my decisions.”

Meanwhile, on the appointment of deputy prime minister for education, another senior official at the presidential residence suggested that the selection process returned to square one by saying, “We excluded candidates for the positions mentioned previously and are looking for new faces.”

Young-Hae Choi yhchoi65@donga.com