Secretive appointment policy must stop

The transition committee for President-elect Park Geun-hye was officially launched Sunday with a signboard hanging ceremony. In a meeting with committee members, Park said, “Please take your jobs seriously with a great sense of responsibility to make this committee most exemplary.” She seems conscious of bad behavior by previous committees like abusing power and acting like roughneck occupiers or pouring out policies that were never implemented, much to the chagrin of the people.

This time, however, Korea is worried about something else: the secretive nature of Park`s committee. The president-elect kept everything to herself about her choice of committee members, just as she did for the first transition office. No explanations were given on why the members were chosen, just announcements of their official titles. The people deserve to know why certain people were selected and what they are supposed to do.

Former Rep. Chough Soon-hyung, known for making straightforward comments, said in an interview with The Dong-A Ilbo, “The president-elect has never talked in front of people about her plans or how things were going. She wouldn’t have given an authoritative impression to the people had she announced personnel appointments and the reasons for them herself. Chief spokesman Yoon Chang-jung also made an inappropriate comment right after opposition parties blasted Park’s manner of appointing people, saying, "What they (opposition parties) want is just opposition for opposition, and we’re not happy about it.” Park’s style of personnel appointments is feared to lose the people’s confidence in her administration and could lead to the first Cabinet malfunction in the country`s history.

The first Cabinet meeting of the Lee Myung-bak administration was held March 3, 2008, in a manner far from normal. Three ministerial candidates -- Nam Ju-hong, Park Eun-gyeong and Lee Chun-ho -- failed to pass the National Assembly’s confirmation hearings. A parliamentary hearing report about Health and Welfare Minister-nominee Kim Seong-i had not been approved, so the constitutionally required minimum number of Cabinet meeting members, 15, could not be met. President Lee had to have four members from the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration attend his first Cabinet meeting.

President-elect Park should ensure the smooth launch of a new government. If that does not happen until two months after the election, she must assume responsibility for the failure. Personnel appointments for high-ranking posts, including prime minister and other Cabinet spots, should earn parliamentary approval or pass confirmation hearings. When it comes to changes in government organization, laws need to be amended. Park must stop appointing people out of the blue without giving background information about them and should hurry government reorganization if she wants her administration to be ready to go after her inauguration on Feb. 25.