[Editorial] Repeated Failures in Vetting Senior Officials Call for a Review of the Personnel System

Yong Hye-in, nominee for minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, abruptly resigned on the 13th. Cheong Wa Dae issued a statement in the name of its spokesperson, saying, "The nominee made the decision herself to reduce the burden on state affairs and people's livelihoods," and added, "We will make every effort in the vetting and selection processes to appoint officials who meet the public's expectations." In light of the circumstances, the controversy surrounding her resignation appears to be a disaster caused by a failure in personnel vetting. It shows that issues that should have been filtered out during the initial screening stage were addressed only after public pressure forced the matter.
Looking back, Yong Hye-in is not the first ministerial nominee appointed under the current administration to fall from consideration. Kang Sun-woo, a former lawmaker nominated as minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, also resigned voluntarily. It is difficult to view two consecutive failed nominations at one ministry as a coincidence. The existence of structural flaws in the personnel recommendation and vetting process cannot be denied. If the pattern of sealing controversies with a resignation whenever criticism of a nominee grows continues, can the public be expected to trust the personnel-vetting process itself?
Yong Hye-in's resignation should not be treated as an isolated personal matter. Kim Seung-won, nominee for minister of the Ministry of Justice, has also caused major controversy during the vetting process ahead of his confirmation hearing. Political circles inside and outside the ruling party speculate that the ruling party sought to remove Yong Hye-in, who had become the focus of controversy ahead of the hearing, to reduce the drain on its political resources and concentrate its efforts on protecting Kim Seung-won. In fact, the confirmation hearing itself is on the verge of collapse because of disputes over Kim Seung-won's qualifications and conflicts between the ruling and opposition parties over the selection of witnesses. With Yong Hye-in, who was at the center of the controversy over nominee vetting, now out of the picture, opposition lawmakers strongly argue that the ruling party will devote all its efforts to neutralizing the confirmation hearing and saving Kim Seung-won.
The controversy over the qualifications of these ministerial nominees is troubling because it could hinder the administration of state affairs. Just over a year into the current administration's term, the president's approval rating is tracing a clear downward curve. Amid the decline, the administration carried out a cabinet reshuffle of at least moderate scale in an attempt to reverse public sentiment. Yet as ministerial nominees who should understand the administration's governing philosophy and push it forward with strong drive become embroiled in questions about their qualifications, the momentum of governance may instead be shaken beyond control.
Even as times change, the importance of the message that personnel appointments are the key to everything remains unchanged. Once trust in personnel appointments is lost, confidence in the administration as a whole also begins to falter. The government and the ruling party must now review the entire personnel-vetting system from the ground up. They should establish a system that carefully identifies suitable candidates who meet public expectations from the nomination stage and filters out potential risks through thorough cross-checking.
The National Assembly's confirmation hearings, moreover, must restore their proper function of assessing nominees' qualifications and integrity before the public, rather than serving as arenas for political conflict. Both the ruling and opposition parties must recognize that if hearings repeatedly collapse because of power struggles over the selection of witnesses, the public will bear the full cost.