Growing Possibility of Massive Personnel Reshuffle of Chung Wa Dae Staff

Although the controversy over President Roh`s personal secretary Yang Gil-seung having received lavish entertainment came to an end when the president accepted his resignation, the presidential office for civil affairs at Chung Wa Dae, which issued a warning to secretary Yang for his misconduct, is now in hot water.

Despite Chung Wa Dae`s insistence on its transparent investigation into the scandal by disclosing the fact that the president`s personal secretary was asked to deliver a pillow as a gift to the president, there are no signs that public criticism is abating, as some still believe that the presidential office failed to carry out a thorough investigation into the matter when it was first reported.

Presidential secretary for civil affairs Moon Jae-in tried to explain the failure in conducting a proper scrutiny at the beginning, saying that the president`s personal secretary lied. But this explanation has not been enough to persuade the public to take what it said at face value.

At the end of the first round of the Chung Wa Dae internal investigation, it was disclosed that Yang had been treated to only 430,000 won worth of entertainment at a bar. Yang denied allegations that he might have received more. Many critics point out that Chung Wa Dae seemed to protect Yang from being the target of harsh public criticism.

Moon also said, “During the preliminary internal investigation into Yang, the investigation mainly focused on the possibility that he might have received lavish treatment for business favors.” With massive media coverage over the scandal, the presidential office for civil affairs soon after announced its second internal probe outcome, admitting that he had been asked to exercise his influence. The incident clearly shows that the presidential office for civil affairs did not function properly.

As a result, some lawmakers in the ruling camp are taking issue with the presidential office for civil affairs` insufficient investigative efforts and its system that falls short of supporting the president with qualified and competent staff members because the presidential office had made a series of similar mistakes before.

In a related matter, the presidential office initially issued only a warning to those who were involved in a scandal whereby Chung Wa Dae officials flew around the Saemangum reclamation project site in a helicopter with family members on June 6. When local media reported the incident, however, it only served to add fuel to the controversy over Chung Wa Dae officials` misconduct. The presidential office shortly thereafter reluctantly accepted three resignation letters from those involved in an effort to contain harsh public criticism.

However, the blunders did not stop there. The presidential office came under fire again over a suspicious land transaction by Lee Ki-myung, former head of President Roh`s supporter groups emerged, as it was reluctant to get to the bottom of the suspicions and denied the president`s involvement in the land transaction. Yet, after extensive media coverage over the scandal, it rushed to explain the case.

Within the ruling camp, lawmakers are voicing the need for a large-scale personnel reshuffling of the presidential office for civil affairs. Ham Seung-hee, a lawmaker of the ruling party, said, “It makes no sense that the Chung Wa Dae office has a right to carry out a probe into cases involving officials at Chung Wa Dae while other government agencies are exempted from having their own investigative rights.”

While the presidential office for civil affairs has been the target of public criticism, officials at Chung Wa Dae have expressed their unease over Yang`s behavior by saying, “If Yang had told the truth in the beginning, the situation would not have turned out like this.”

Yong-Gwan Jung yongari@donga.com