Lee Jae Myung's major Cabinet reshuffle draws praise from ruling party, criticism from opposition

[Financial News] President Lee Jae Myung carried out a mid-scale Cabinet reshuffle on the 30th, including the deputy prime minister for economy and the minister of justice. The Democratic Party of Korea praised the move as a merit-based appointment, while the People Power Party denounced it as a reshuffle driven by stubbornness and a refusal to change the direction of state affairs.
First, Democratic Party spokesperson Lee Yong-woo said the appointments were "pragmatic personnel decisions that placed talented people with expertise, field experience and execution capability in the right positions," adding that they were "merit-based appointments."
He particularly pointed to the nominations of Kim Seung-won for justice minister, Lee So-young for minister of SMEs and startups, and Yong Hye-in for minister of gender equality and family, saying they were "people who have already proven their ability and drive through legislative activity." He added, "We have high expectations, as they have the capacity to connect the public's voice to changes in administration and policy."
Regarding the nominations of bureaucrats Lee Hyoung-il for the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Hong Ji-seon for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Kang Shin-cheol for the Ministry of National Defense, he said their "expertise and field experience will lead to concrete progress in stabilizing livelihoods, solving housing problems and driving defense reform."
The People Power Party pushed back, saying that keeping in place officials who should have been dismissed while promoting vice ministers showed that the administration had no intention of changing its governing stance. It also suspected that the nomination of Kim Seung-won for justice minister was aimed at inducing prosecutors to drop indictments in President Lee's five trials.
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk said, "The president nominated lawmaker Kim Seung-won, a former lawyer in the Daejang-dong case, as justice minister. He is the person who served as co-chair of the so-called 'prosecution drop' group," adding, "In the end, he picked a justice minister who would carry the burden of getting his own trials dropped."
Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik also weighed in, saying, "This reshuffle is far from the livelihood-focused Cabinet change the opposition demanded. It is a state-terror reshuffle that confirms the only governing stance in the second year of this administration is to drop the indictments." He added, "By leaving in place Cheong Wa Dae policy chief Kim Yong-beom and Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, it is a tail-cutting reshuffle that shields those responsible for failures in the economy and national security." He continued, "By appointing current vice ministers as deputy prime minister for economy and land minister, it is a declaration that economic and real estate policy will not change even one degree."
Senior lawmaker Na Kyung-won said Kim, FSC Chairman Lee Eok-won and Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin should be held accountable for leading the introduction of leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which are cited as a cause of sharp swings in the domestic stock market. She called it "a stubborn reshuffle obsessed with failed real estate and stocks."
In response, Democratic Party floor spokesperson Kim Sung-hoe said, "Candidate Kim Seung-won met with attorney Nam Wook only once at the very beginning in connection with the Nam Wook case. He did not defend the Daejang-dong case." Lee Yong-woo also urged critics to "stop baseless political attacks and approach the National Assembly confirmation hearings with a responsible attitude."

[email protected] Kim Yoon-ho Reporter