[News Terms] Trump Preliminary Cabinet 'Shadow Cabinet'

'Shadow cabinet' refers to a shadow cabinet or a provisional cabinet prepared in advance by the opposition party in anticipation of gaining power.

The shadow cabinet originally refers to the top leadership of the opposition party in the United Kingdom. In the UK, which adopts a parliamentary system, when power changes through a general election, the new prime minister takes office the very next day. Unlike in Korea, there is no procedure like a transition committee, and the new government begins to operate immediately. For this reason, the opposition party organizes a shadow cabinet to show the public that it is always ready to govern, and typically, the top leadership of the opposition party becomes the provisional cabinet.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Photo by AFP/Yonhap News

In practice, the opposition party designates members expected to be prime minister and ministers in preparation for gaining power, assigning them central roles in party operations, and after gaining power, these members often become ministers in the cabinet. This system began in 1876, and in 1907, Conservative Party member A. N. Chamberlain was the first to use the term 'shadow cabinet.'

The UK's main opposition party, while called 'Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition,' has the duty to challenge the ruling party's policies. Additionally, since the opposition leader is a potential future prime minister, they receive information on important national issues from the prime minister, attend official events alongside the prime minister as a customary practice, and before general elections, bureaucrats provide explanations and information regarding election pledges, all of which are institutionalized.

In Japan, the opposition party sometimes forms a shadow cabinet called the 'cabinet of tomorrow,' but due to the Liberal Democratic Party's near one-party dominance, it has not been firmly established. Some Commonwealth countries such as Canada, New Zealand, and Australia officially operate shadow cabinets.

In the United States, when a presidential candidate wins, those expected to work in the new administration are commonly recognized. South Korea is similar to the U.S. However, in 2016, ahead of the 19th presidential election, the Justice Party appointed Kim Jong-dae, a military security expert and head of the Justice Party's Defense Reform Committee, as a provisional defense minister and formed a provisional cabinet for five ministries. This attempt is regarded as the first shadow cabinet in the history of Korean political parties.

U.S. President Donald Trump (left) and eldest son-in-law Jared Kushner are sitting side by side.
[Photo by EPA/ Yonhap]

If former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, wins the November election next year, shadow cabinet candidates expected to lead the new administration are already drawing attention. The U.S. political media Axios, citing sources close to Trump, reported that "in a second Trump administration, loyalty to Trump verified in advance and promises to expand legal and dominant boundaries will be the key criteria for appointing senior officials."

Axios reported that potential vice presidential candidates, who would be Trump’s running mates, include Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, female politicians such as Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Governor of Arkansas, Kari Lake, former TV anchor, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Representative Byron Donalds.

Rick Grenell, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, Robert O'Brien, former White House National Security Advisor, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, are mentioned as candidates for the new Secretary of State.