Yoon to New Vice Minister: "Must Fight Against Interest Cartels"... Speed Up National Performance and Implementation (Comprehensive)

Corrupt Cartels Must Be Overthrown from Within Democratic Society
Emphasizing Loyalty to the Nation, People, and Constitutional System
Also Urging Accurate Personnel Evaluation Within Ministries

President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 3rd urged newly appointed vice ministers, saying, "Our government is an anti-cartel government," and asked them to "fight mercilessly against interest cartels." This was to emphasize that vice ministers, who oversee practical affairs, must also be fully committed to the "war against interest cartels" for the swift implementation of the government's national and reform agendas.

After presenting appointment letters to 13 newly appointed vice ministers that morning, President Yoon said at a luncheon, "Totalitarianism and socialism destroy democratic society from the outside, while corrupt cartels destroy it from within," according to a written briefing by spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

The individuals who received vice minister appointment letters that day were Kim Wan-seop, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Cho Seong-gyeong, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT; Oh Young-joo, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Moon Seung-hyun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Unification; Jang Mi-ran, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Han Hoon, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs; Lim Sang-jun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment; Lee Seong-hee, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Employment and Labor; Kim Oh-jin, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; Baek Won-guk, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; Park Seong-hoon, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries; Oh Ki-woong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups; and Kim Chae-hwan, President of the National Human Resources Development Institute, totaling 13 people.

Among them, five are former presidential office secretaries: Cho Seong-gyeong, 1st Vice Minister (Science and Technology Secretary); Lim Sang-jun, Vice Minister (National Agenda Secretary); Kim Oh-jin, 1st Vice Minister (Management Secretary); Baek Won-guk, 2nd Vice Minister (Land, Infrastructure and Transport Secretary); and Park Seong-hoon, Vice Minister (National Planning Secretary).

President Yoon first emphasized, "Be loyal to the spirit of the Constitution. Both domestic and foreign policies must be pursued with the spirit of liberal democracy enshrined in the Constitution," adding, "Be loyal to the nation, the people, and the constitutional system. This does not mean switching horses midstream but rather riding the horse properly according to the spirit of the Constitution."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

First, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, where the 1st and 2nd vice ministers were replaced with former presidential secretaries, plans to intensify efforts to resolve issues such as jeonse fraud and reverse jeonse crises, which President Yoon has emphasized, as well as to eradicate illegal activities by labor unions such as construction site violence. The Ministry of Environment will expedite scientific verification in areas including solar power, the Four Major Rivers Project, and environmental impact assessments of the U.S. THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) base in South Korea. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will ensure thorough responses to the Fukushima contaminated water treatment issue, and the Ministry of Science and ICT aims to complete the establishment of the Korea Aerospace Agency (KASA) within the year.

President Yoon also stressed the importance of personnel evaluations for public officials. He said, "Whether in government or corporate organizations, the most important thing is evaluating people," and urged, "Always conduct accurate evaluations of the work capabilities of affiliated organizations and public officials."

Earlier, on the day of the cabinet reshuffle announcement on the 29th of last month, President Yoon instructed five newly appointed vice ministers who were former presidential secretaries, saying, "Be loyal to the spirit of the Constitution rather than to me," and warned, "Civil servants who do not move at all despite the change of administration and think that if they just hold on a little longer the administration will change again should go to the National Assembly, not the government," ordering a war against interest cartels and the implementation of national achievements.

With the vice minister appointments completed, it is expected that personnel appointments for senior government officials in ministries will also accelerate. It is reported that all first-grade officials in the Ministry of Environment submitted their resignations before the 6.29 cabinet reshuffle.

In the Ministry of Education, after criticism arose over the 'personnel exchange' of government officials being appointed as directors of national university offices, leading to accusations of departmental favoritism, 14 senior officials and deputy directors who had been dispatched to other ministries were all returned to the Operations Support Division. Some ministries, including the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, are also reportedly preparing large-scale internal personnel reshuffles.

However, the presidential office stated that it was not involved in the collective resignation of first-grade officials. The presidential spokesperson's office clarified in a press release that day, "The resignations of first-grade officials were received by ministers exercising their authority as part of personnel renewal, and the subsequent procedures have been temporarily suspended due to the announcement of vice minister appointments," drawing a clear line that the presidential office is not related to the collective resignations of first-grade officials.

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