[6.29 Cabinet Reshuffle] Opposition: "All Unqualified People... Personnel Changes Are a Disaster" Criticizes Reshuffle

"Kim Young-ho, an extreme far-right figure"
"Kim Hong-il, concerns over the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission's degeneration into a regime's investigative agency"

The Democratic Party of Korea criticized the cabinet reshuffle carried out by President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 29th as an "incorrigible personnel decision."

On the same day, spokesperson Park Seong-jun pointed out during a National Assembly briefing, "They say personnel is everything, but the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's personnel decisions have become a 'net of failure,'" adding, "How is it that they only pick unqualified people one after another?"

Democratic Party of Korea Spokesperson Park Seong-jun Photo by Yonhap News

He criticized, "Appointing someone who advocates extreme inter-Korean confrontation as Minister of Unification and placing a political prosecutor who covered up former President Lee Myung-bak's BBK case as Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission?is that even conceivable?" and said, "President Yoon's extreme right-wing bias and prosecutor bias have gone beyond the level of concern."

Kim Young-ho, a professor at Sungshin Women's University, who was nominated as the new Minister of Unification, strongly criticized the 2018 Supreme Court ruling on 'forced labor compensation' as "anti-Japanese ethnic nationalism." He also led a New Right scholars' group during the Park Geun-hye administration, earning him a reputation for having a strong conservative tint.

Spokesperson Park said, "He is completely unsuitable as Minister of Unification, who should prepare the foundation for unification through dialogue and exchange," and added, "I am worried that he might be aiming for permanent division rather than unification."

Regarding the 'anti-Japanese ethnic nationalism' remarks, he also called him an "extreme far-right figure" and questioned, "Did President Yoon also fall prey to false propaganda like anti-Japanese ethnic nationalism and handle the forced mobilization victims' issue so humiliatingly?"

About Kim Hong-il, the new Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and a former prosecutor, he expressed concern, saying, "He is someone who has protected the interests of those in power," and warned, "The Commission will also be reduced to an agency for political purges under this administration."

Spokesperson Park criticized, "The Yoon Suk-yeol administration, which gives the Chairperson position of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission to someone who first bows to power, turns a blind eye to corruption, and pins crimes on the powerless, no longer has the right to mention fairness and common sense." The opposition evaluates that Kim effectively gave a clean bill of health while leading the investigation into former President Lee Myung-bak's secret land ownership in Dogok-dong and the BBK allegations in 2007.

Regarding the fact that five out of the twelve vice minister appointments announced that day were former presidential office secretaries, he said, "Beyond revolving-door personnel, this is an expression of the presidential office's will to bypass ministers and directly command ministries," emphasizing, "The Democratic Party will thoroughly verify personnel and reveal the truth about the reckless and inappropriate personnel decisions of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration."

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