Head Of Fair Trade Commission, Kang Cheol-kyu, Is the Most Competent Minister

According to the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ)’s assessment of 21 ministers’ skills at performing their duties, the head of the Fair Trade Commission, Kang Cheol-kyu ranks first while Kim Jin-pyo, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs who is also the head of the Finance and Economy Ministry, received the lowest rank.

The CCEJ reported the results on Friday. The ministers’ policies and skill at performing their duties were assessed by 197 experts from academia, the press and civil groups. The CCEJ explained it assessed ability by measuring tendency towards reform, power and expertise by selecting five to six critical policies from each ministers’ presidential operational reports.

Mr. Kang stood first by scoring 3.17 in policy and 4.13 in ability to perform his duties, receiving a 3.65 average out of five.

Following him in the top ten were Ji Eun-hee of the Ministry of Gender Equality (3.61), Lee Chang-dong of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (3.49), Jeong Se-hyun of the Ministry of Unification (3.33), Park Bong-hym of the Ministry of Planning and Budget (3.20), Jin Dae-je of the Ministry of Information and Communications (3.09), Kang Keum-sil of the Ministry of Justice (2.97), Jang Seung-woo of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (2.96), Han Myoung-sook of the Ministry of the Environment (2.93) and Yoon Young Kwan of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2.76).

In contrast, those from the economy-related ministries such as Kim Jin-pyo of the Ministry of Finance and Economy (2.04), Yoon Deok-hong of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development and the deputy prime minister (2.07), Yoon Jin-sik of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (2.17), Lee Jeong-jae of the Financial Supervisory Service (2.27) and Kim Hwa-jung of the Ministry of Health and Welfare (2.29) held lower ranks.

The policies deemed to be the best executed were the abolition of the hoju or the head of the family system (Ministry of Gender Equality), a special law on air quality improvement for the national capital region (Ministry of Environment), various policies on opening culture and solving the application problem for the literary art promotion fund (Ministry of Culture and Tourism) and the discovery of the newly-developed power of the information and communications industry and the realization of innovative e-government. (Ministry of Information and Communication).

The most poorly executed polices, on the other hand were a nuclear waste dump project (Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy), a policy on household loans, credit card delinquents and credit card companies (Ministry of Finance and Economy), the introduction and promotion of the National Education Information System (Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development), another policy on household loans and credit card delinquents (Financial Supervisory Service) and a policy on the reduction of private education costs and the improvement of the university entrance examination (Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development).

The CCEJ said, “When generalized, this results in a bit more than half of the full score, with a 2.81 average out of five,” adding, “This is interpreted as the calm judgment of experts from various circles about the nation’s chaotic administration since President Roh Moo-hyun took office.”

cij1999@donga.com