Presidential Office on Appointment of Park Soon-ae and Others: "Not Urgent Enough to Require NATO Approval"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 29th, the Presidential Office stated that the timing of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s appointment of Park Soon-ae as Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, Kim Seung-hee as Minister of Health and Welfare, and Kim Seung-gyeom as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not urgent enough to require electronic approval from Spain, and that the situation regarding the formation of the National Assembly should be considered.

A senior official from the Presidential Office said to reporters at the Yongsan office in the afternoon, “It does not seem appropriate to pretend not to have heard about a dramatic agreement on the formation of the National Assembly and to forcibly proceed with the appointments smoothly scheduled for hearings. At the same time, it is not desirable to leave important ministerial posts vacant for a long time,” expressing this view.

The deadline for resubmitting the personnel hearing result reports for candidates Park Soon-ae, Kim Seung-hee, and Kim Seung-gyeom is today, and according to the law, President Yoon can appoint them without a National Assembly hearing starting from the 30th.

However, the senior official said it is highly unlikely that President Yoon will forcibly make the appointments before returning from Spain on the 1st of next month. The official said, “President Yoon’s schedule is packed all day until evening due to the summit. I think it is unlikely that he would do any electronic approval there. Having waited this long, I don’t think it is urgent enough to require doing it overseas.”

Regarding rumors of a meeting between President Yoon and Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, the official emphasized, “As far as I know, the two have not met.” On the rumor that President Yoon refused Lee’s request for a meeting, the official responded, “It does not seem appropriate for us to respond to every mention by anonymous sources.” The official also said that Lee was notified to disclose the agenda in advance, adding, “Anyway, when requesting a meeting with the head of state, it is only natural for aides to ask, ‘What is this regarding?’”

Regarding additional reports about another senior official from the Presidential Office anonymously calling the previous day’s report “a blatant lie,” the official said, “I don’t know who spoke so strongly.”

On the pardon of former President Lee Myung-bak (MB), the official defined it as “a highly political act” and said, “Since yesterday, when the suspension of sentence execution was decided, I have not spoken with President Yoon. At this point, there is no set presidential policy or consensus.”

Regarding the postponement of the meeting between President Yoon and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in response to the question, “They waited for over 30 minutes and then left; isn’t this a protocol mistake?” the official explained, “Under normal circumstances, such controversy could arise, but the situation was very urgent due to the NATO accession issues of Finland and Sweden. We sufficiently asked for understanding on our side and proceeded accordingly.”