Unextinguished 'Personnel Flame' at Cheong Minjeong Chief... Aftermath of Shin Hyunsoo's Resignation Offer (Comprehensive)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] The controversy over Shin Hyun-soo, the Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, expressing his intention to resign is ongoing. Although Shin is currently participating in Blue House affairs normally, it is difficult to say that he has withdrawn his intention to resign. The noteworthy point is that this is not the first time the issue of the Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs' position has become a subject of controversy.

Previously, both former Senior Secretaries Kim Jo-won and Kim Jong-ho, who served as Blue House Senior Secretaries for Civil Affairs, were embroiled in controversies regarding their positions. Former Senior Secretary Kim Jo-won was mentioned as a party to the Blue House multi-homeowner controversy, which politically burdened President Moon Jae-in. He eventually stepped down from the Senior Secretary position, but whether he resolved his multiple homeownership remained a political risk for the Blue House.

Former Senior Secretary Kim Jong-ho took responsibility for the confusion during the prosecution reform process and was replaced just four months after his appointment in December last year. The person appointed as Kim Jong-ho’s successor was Shin Hyun-soo. However, Shin was also caught up in a resignation controversy less than two months after his appointment on December 31 last year.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A senior Blue House official explained, "Shin Hyun-soo, the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, expressed his intention to resign several times. Each time, the president persuaded him to stay, so he remains in his position now." The reason Shin expressed his intention to resign is related to the high-level prosecution personnel reshuffle carried out on the 7th. Shin raised objections to the prosecution personnel changes, which mainly involved retaining Lee Seong-yoon as the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, but it is known that Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye did not reflect these objections and announced the personnel changes.

Shin intended to act as a mediator between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution, but when his opinions were not reflected, he took action by expressing his intention to resign. Although the Blue House publicly disclosed President Moon’s refusal to accept the resignation, the 'personnel issue' has not been extinguished.

There is also speculation that it will be difficult for Shin, who caused the resignation controversy, to perform his duties normally. Hwang Hee-seok, a Supreme Council Member of the Open Democratic Party and former Director of the Human Rights Bureau at the Ministry of Justice, argued on Facebook, "If the resignation expression is true and the reasons reported in the media are the real reasons, it is right for him to step down from the position of Senior Secretary to the President."

This points to damage to his leadership as a Blue House Senior Secretary. Hwang said, "If he is careless and irresponsible and only tries to uphold his own pride, he is unfit to be the president’s secretary," adding, "A Senior Secretary is just the chief of secretaries, but still a secretary."

The People Power Party criticized the prosecution personnel reshuffle, saying it failed to convince even the Blue House Senior Secretary in relation to this controversy.

Kim Eun-hye, spokesperson for the People Power Party, claimed, "From the personnel excluding Yoon Seok-youl, to the 'plant prosecution' with opposing voices even from the same side, to the call for the Serious Crime Investigation Agency, the hatred deeply ingrained in the Moon Jae-in administration towards Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl cannot be hidden no matter how much they try."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.