Rhyu Given Post for Experience Reasons

The presidential secretary for speech planning, Yoon Tai-young, announced yesterday that the nomination of Rep. Rhyu Si-min of the Uri Party as minister of health and welfare was President Roh Moo-hyun’s way of giving him the opportunity to accumulate enough experience in national affairs to groom him into a next-generation leader.

In his posting titled, “National Affairs Journal” on the official website of Cheong Wa Dae yesterday, Yoon gave the story behind the reshuffling of ministers. Given the contents of the posting and his being a close aide to President Roh, it seems that he posted the story with the consent of the president. A summary of the posting is as follows:

“Preparations for appointing Rhyu as a minister date back to before Chung Dong-young and Kim Geun-tae joined the Cabinet in July 2004. The president pointed out lawmakers Chung Se-gyun, Chun Jeong-bae, and Rhyu Si-min as next-generation leaders who will shoulder the future of the party, making plans to appoint them to the Cabinet so that they could gain plenty of experiences in national affairs. The fact that they were elected floor leaders or standing central committee members proved they actually were suitable leaders.

“The president’s decision was based on the understanding that he would not be passive in nurturing next-generation leaders. He believes he should provide as many opportunities as possible for the next-generation of leaders and let them accumulate experience, just as he himself gained experience in national affairs while serving as the minister of maritime affairs and fisheries. The president remains committed to actively promoting the next-generation of leaders in the future.

“Of course, Rhyu was one pillar of inner-party conflict regarding the ‘mainstay party member system’ and other issues. However, that is not a fundamental problem, it is just a perceptional difference. Those issues by themselves cannot be obstacles to Rhyu’s nomination, even though they generated conflicts and hurt feelings. In 2003, for instance, the President appointed Chun as minister of justice even though their relations were strained at that time after Cheon said Cheong Wa Dae’s personnel management system should be overhauled.

“In addition, the president unofficially decided around November 2003 to appoint Chief Presidential Secretary Kim Woo-sik as the de facto successor of Moon Hee-sang, even before Moon hinted at a possible resignation in February 2004. Kim’s resignation was announced to the press in August 2005, but it was two months before that the president expressed to Lee Byung-wan his willingness to nominate Lee as new chief presidential secretary. In this way, the president prepares for appointment of key government officials as early as possible.”

Yeon-Wook Jung jyw11@donga.com