Concerns Over Side Effects of Jang-Go
Future Discussions on National Policy Direction
Former Minister Park Young-sun: "Cooperation Essential"
President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is deeply engaged in plans to revamp personnel and national governance without any official schedule on the 18th, is expected to soon announce successors for the Prime Minister and Chief of Staff positions. The prolonged speculation is intensifying conflicts and could potentially lead to a laxity in public service discipline.
Particularly notable is the dinner meeting between Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, a former ruling party leader and presidential candidate, and President Yoon two days ago. According to officials from the presidential office and ruling party, President Yoon met with Mayor Hong at an undisclosed location in Seoul on the 16th, where they discussed the future national policy direction and personnel appointments, including those for the Prime Minister and Chief of Staff.
Some within the ruling party have mentioned Mayor Hong as a candidate for Prime Minister, but it is understood that this meeting was not intended for President Yoon to propose a specific position to Mayor Hong. When asked about the Prime Minister candidacy rumors by Asia Economy on the morning of the same day, Mayor Hong dismissed them, saying, "I did not come down to Daegu to become Prime Minister."
In particular, Mayor Hong reportedly told President Yoon that the Prime Minister candidate should be an unambitious figure capable of communicating with the opposition party, and that the Chief of Staff should be someone with excellent political acumen who is loyal to the president. The day before, when critical posts about President Yoon and former People Power Party emergency committee chairman Han Dong-hoon related to the general election defeat were posted on 'Youth’s Dream,' a communication channel run by Mayor Hong, he responded by saying, "Still, didn’t President Yoon win the presidential and local elections?"
Within and outside the presidential office and ruling party, Jang Je-won, a key pro-Yoon People Power Party lawmaker who has been continuously mentioned as a successor to Chief of Staff Lee Gwan-seop, is rapidly emerging. Other names such as Kim Han-gil, Chairman of the National Integration Committee, former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong, People Power Party lawmaker Chung Jin-seok, and former Saenuri Party leader Lee Jung-hyun are also being discussed. For the new Prime Minister candidates, Kim Han-gil and People Power Party lawmaker Joo Ho-young are among those mentioned.
Despite denials from the presidential office the day before, there is an interpretation that former Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun, who returned early from the United States, cannot be completely ruled out as a candidate.
While visiting Osaka, Japan, former Minister Park posted on Facebook that "This is such a critical time that cooperation is essential," quoting the preface of Charles Dickens’ 'A Tale of Two Cities,' and wrote, "Our society now looks like two trains running towards each other, like 'A Tale of Two Cities.'"
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