President Park Geun-hye’s unexpected appointment of Kim Ki-choon, a long-time mentor with a contentious political history, as the new presidential chief of staff is drawing fire as an aggravated case of her bullheaded personnel appointment style.

The designation of Park Joon-woo, a career diplomat with no political experience, as a senior political affairs secretary also left many wondering Park’s intention, with some suggesting the president may be challenging the opposition by changing the traditional role of the position.

As her own prescription to cure the slowing administrative momentum and political backlash, Park made an extensive reshuffle of her presidential office on Monday by replacing the chief and four senior secretaries. But some of the choices prompted fuming condemnation from the opposition forces, with even some of the ruling party politicians questioning the appropriateness of her selections.

At the pinnacle of the criticism is Kim, a prosecutor-turned-politician with deep personal and career relations with Park’s father former President Park Chung-hee.

As if to boast his loyalty to the Park family, Kim started off his first official press briefing on Tuesday with an elaborate phrase: “I, as chief of staff, would like to make an announcement by upholding the wish of the higher one (Park).”

The main opposition Democratic Party slammed Park for the second day in a row for what they called “dogmatic” choices, and a “prelude to a return of oppressive politics.”

“Kim’s nickname is the Yushin and maneuvering politics. I am extremely doubtful as to whether the president’s personnel choices can signal a new start,” said DP Supreme Councilor Rep. Shin Kyoung-min in a radio interview.

Kim, who served as prosecutor general and justice minister before joining the politics in 1996, is reported to have been one of the writers for the draft of the authoritarian Yushin Constitution in 1972 that enabled the senior Park to remain in office indefinitely in theory. Kim had later explained he only ran errands as a rank-and-file prosecutor at the time.

Well-known for his specialty in public security from the 70s to the 90s, critics cite Kim’s involvement in oppression against activists.

In 1992, as justice minister, Kim and other government figures made headlines for plotting a negative campaign against an opposition contender by trying to invoke regionalism in the presidential election.

The opposition also points to his participation as the Legislation and Judiciary Committee chairman in 2004 during the impeachment of then-President Roh Moo-hyun.

On a personal level, Kim shares a close history with the Parks by receiving a Jeongsu Foundation scholarship and serving as the presidential secretary in the latter years of Park Chung-hee regime. Jeongsu, named after Park Chung-hee and wife Yook Young-soo, remains the thorniest background issue of President Park as it remains a remnant of senior Park’s military rule by being built on confiscated assets.

In 1974, then-prosecutor Kim successfully yielded out a confession from Moon Se-kwang for assassinating Yook. He later acted as the founding chairman of the board for the memoriam foundation for Park Chung-hee.

“It is worrisome that the (appointment) will only aggravate the difficult public sentiment and shaky state administration,” said DP floor leader Rep. Jun Byung-hun at a party meeting.

Concerns also echoed among some Saenuri Party members. Rep. Kim Yong-tae said in a radio interview, “I was entirely taken aback and I am half concerned and half hopeful…I can understand why the opposition party would fume at the decision.”

“In the opposition’s perspective, it would be the same as being slapped in the face while crying as a person who had stood at the center of damaging democracy 21 years ago returned to the spotlight,” Kim said. He added Kim would take this opportunity to reflect on his past and redirect the focus on economy and other pending administrative tasks.

Another source said while Kim may not be a corrupt figure, his appointment is not likely to draw understanding from the public any time soon.

Kim, nonetheless, is expected to enjoy spanning authority, buoyed by his seniority. He is eight years older then Saenuri Party chairman Hwang Woo-yea. Prime Minister Chung Hong-won is also Kim’s junior by five years in the prosecutors’ lineage.

Added with Park’s full support as a member of her so-called “seven-member circle” of senior political mentors, Kim is expected to enjoy vast influence in and outside Cheong Wa Dae.

Park Joon-woo, a career diplomat with expertise in Northeast Asia and negotiation, was another source of debate.

The senior political affairs secretary has usually been considered the most politically-charged position with the primary task of communicating with the National Assembly. The seat was hence often taken by former or incumbent lawmakers or a political journalist.

Sources said Park Joon-woo was recruited after the president was impressed with his ability during her visit to Europe in 2009, when he was the ambassador there.

Observers said Park’s unconventional choice may also be a message to the politics that she plans to stay away from political wrangling, and by having her loyal aide and senior press secretary Lee Jung-hyun maintain his communication role with both the politics and the media.

Undeterred by such criticism, Park said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that her reshuffle is aimed to more actively delve into new change and challenge.

“It is hoped that (you) serve for the people and speak for the people, and engage in politics for the new future that steps beyond the mold of old politics,“ she told the attendants.

By Lee Joo-hee (jhl@heraldcorp.com)