'Prime Minister Responsibility System' on the Test... Han Deok-su Personally Signs Candidate Recommendation Letter

Photo by Presidential Transition Committee

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol has completed his first appointments based on the implementation of a responsible prime minister system. A key official from the transition team emphasized that Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo personally signed the recommendation letters for the eight ministerial candidates nominated on the 10th, calling it "the president-elect's first commitment to realizing the responsible prime minister system."

Earlier, during his presidential campaign, President-elect Yoon promised to realize a responsible prime minister system that grants greater responsibility and authority to the prime minister. The responsible prime minister is intended to exercise practical powers such as recommending cabinet members and proposing their dismissal, thereby decentralizing and checking the power concentrated in the president.

Just before the announcement of this appointment, President-elect Yoon expressed his intention to implement a responsible cabinet that broadly guarantees independence, including personnel authority, to the prime minister and ministers of each department. To this end, it was also reported that President-elect Yoon handed over the entire ministerial lineup to nominee Han for prior review.

Nominee Han also explained the responsible prime minister system as "increasing the authority so that heads of organizations can have autonomy over budget and personnel to most efficiently execute their own philosophy and agenda." Regarding the "ideal role of a responsible prime minister," he mentioned it as "a dimension of decentralizing and delegating the power of the Blue House to the cabinet."

At the announcement of the first cabinet appointments that day, nominee Han stood beside President-elect Yoon. After the announcement, Won Il-hee, senior deputy spokesperson of the transition team, revealed the signed recommendation letters of nominee Han for the cabinet candidates, explaining that "this is the first time in the history of transition teams that such a thing has happened when nominating minister candidates."

The original recommendation letters disclosed by the transition team contained the real names of the eight ministerial candidates announced that day. Deputy spokesperson Won emphasized, "By having the prime minister nominee exercise practical recommendation authority for minister nominations, the president-elect and the prime minister have documented their will to realize the responsible prime minister system."

Nominee Han also told reporters that day, "This is the first expression that the president intends to exercise his authority as a ruler in accordance with the constitution and principles," adding, "It is unprecedented in the transition team." Regarding the appointments, he added that consultations were held separately with not only President-elect Yoon but also Secretary-General Jang Je-won and the appointment team. On the method of replacing ministers after the government launch, including additional appointments, nominee Han said, "Since it has started this way once, I expect and trust that it will continue."