Prime Minister Goh, "Ready for Early Cabinet Reshuffle"

As for the argument of cabinet reform, Prime Minister Goh Kun yesterday hinted at an early reorganization of the cabinet by mentioning that he is “ready to suggest to the president if there is a political consensus on the issue.”

During the reunification, foreign affairs and national security session of the Assembly audit, a lawmaker inquired after the timing of cabinet reorganization and Goh replied, “If the politicians agree to request for an early cabinet reform at this point, with pledging a consent on the confidence assessment procedure and overall cooperation for the state affairs, I am prepared to review it seriously and suggest a cabinet reshuffle for the purpose of newly launching an administration system.”

Also, it has been reported that the top management of New Party for Participatory Union has requested for the resignations of three Blue House officials in addition to recently resigned Lee Kwang-jae, the presidential aide on information and policy monitoring, for their liability on national chaos which created a stir on cabinet’s early reshuffle.

During the press conference, Rep. Chun Jung-bae urged, “Those who think ‘I’m fine at this time’ should also step down immediately.” The core leaders of New Party urged that three Blue House officials with an initial of M, Y, and P in each of their names should resign just like Lee Kwang-jae.

Regarding this, floor leader of New Party Rep. Kim Geun-tae indicated, “Reshuffling of the cabinet is apparently impossible before the president’s confidence results.” He stressed, “I do think that reorganization of the Blue House should proceed (even if the timing is ahead of confidence vote).”

However, Lee Byung-wan, presidential secretary for public affairs, confirmed, “Reshuffling matters on both the Blue House and the Cabinet will be discussed after wrapping up the president’s confidence issue.”

Meanwhile, in regard to the inquiry “What do you think of adopting ‘responsible prime-minister system’ that will support the nation’s interest by letting the president focus on national strategy rather than domestic affairs?” questioned by Millennium Democratic Party Rep. Kim Kyung-jae, Prime Minister Goh Kun answered, “I’m ready to suggest to the president only if there is political consent.”

Sung-Won Park Young-Hae Choi swpark@donga.com yhchoi65@donga.com