Justice Minister and Agriculture Minister Resign

President Roh Moo-hyun is reportedly considering a partial Cabinet reshuffle, including the replacement of Justice Minister Kim Seong-ho and Agriculture Minister Park Heung-soo who expressed their intentions to resign yesterday. As Roh Jun-hyeong, Minister of Information and Communication, also expressed his will to resign, the president will soon decide whether to accept the resignations.

Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Cheon Ho-seon said in a briefing that day, “President Roh will consider whether to accept the resignation of Kim and Park and whether there are other ministers who want to resign, so that there can be a Cabinet reshuffle, if necessary.”

Cheon said, “Nothing is decided yet, but there is no plan for a big reshuffle,” adding, “President will replace those ministers who want to resign.”

The remark is interpreted as that the presidential office is planning to replace ministers from political circles who will run in the presidential or general elections, or those who have held minister posts for a long time.

Prior to that, Kim convened an emergency meeting for senior officials and said, “I expressed my will to resign to President Roh Moo-hyun last month. As there have been a series of media reports on my position recently, I delivered my will to resign to mitigate pressure on the president,” according to Hong Mahn-pyo, Justice Ministry spokesperson.

However, there has been talk of replacing Kim within Cheong Wa Dae since early June, while Jeong Seong-jin, head of the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption, was considered as the candidate for the Justice Ministry post on July 23. Some say that these circumstances would have indirectly pressed Kim to resign.

Kim told reporters that there were no conflicts with Cheong Wa Dae. But when asked if there was any pressure from the presidential office to step down, he avoided the question, saying, “I cannot talk about specifics.”

Na Gyeong-won, spokesperson of the Grand National Party, said, “Kim seems to have delivered his will to resign because of pressure from Cheong Wa Dae. That is a signal that the presidential office interfered with the presidential election campaign through sacking the Justice Minister.”

Jeong has reportedly been nominated as Kim’s successor. If Jeong is appointed, Lee Jong-baek, former Chief of the Seoul High Prosecutor’s Office, is highly likely to become Jeong’s successor.

Regarding the reason for Park’s resignation, a Cheong Wa Dae official said, “He repeatedly expressed his will to resign once the KORUS FTA negotiations were concluded, but it was delayed because of follow-up measures to the FTA. As the follow-up was completed, Cheong Wa Dae decided to accept his resignation.”

Another minister who could be replaced is Minister of Gender Equality and Family Jang Ha-jin who took office in January 2005.

Cheong Wa Dae is expected to discuss a partial reshuffling at a meeting on August 9.

jin0619@donga.com