Transition Committee Requests No Personnel Changes

The Presidential Transition Committee (PTC) hinted that it would request the government not to carry personnel management changes for high-ranking government officials or senior members of state-run enterprises. And Cheong Wa Dae is likely to say yes.

On December 27, in a PTC leadership meeting, PTC Vice Chairman Kim Hyung-o said, “Public officers will remain in place regardless of changing governments. So I want the current government to consult with us before carrying out any major personnel policies.”

PTC spokesperson Lee Dong-kwan said, “Restraining personnel movement of tenured public officials is a matter of political understanding before considering legality, I think.”

The PTC plans to request Cheong Wa Dae not to make personnel changes to officials whose tenures end before the end of next February or whose tenures have already expired.

A member of the PTC said, “Similar requests were made customarily between incoming and outgoing governments. Given the differences in policies of the current and incoming governments, it is very hard for us to maintain consistency in policies if senior officials move between government offices. That’s why we decided to make the request.”

Regarding this, one Cheong Wa Dae official said, “We have not heard any word from the PTC yet. If personnel movement is inevitable, we will consult with the PTC. Otherwise, we will postpone personnel movements.”

He added, “In the case of senior officials of state-owned enterprises, they are publicly hired. So personnel management of those enterprises can be done independent of the request. But we can have words with PTC.”

Accordingly, the decision to pick the successor of the current National Police Agency commissioner Lee Taek-soon will be influenced by president-elect Lee Myung-bak.

The chief of Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption (councilor Seong Hae-yong’s tenure ending on January 24, 2008), the Board of Audit and Inspection (one council member vacancy), and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2 vacancies) need personnel adjustments. Any movement will be made in consultation with the PTC or put off until the new government is sworn in.

In a media interview last September, Lee Myung-bak opposed the appointment of a prosecutor general and chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection by the current government, but Roh Moo-hyun did it anyway.

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