The ruling Saenuri Party Chairman Kim Moo-sung said last week he wished President Park Geun-hye would bring no more lawmakers from the party to fill posts in her administration. Kim’s remark ― made at a meeting of Saenuri executive members ― was deemed by some observers as reflecting his discontent with the possible weakening of the party’s posture in the run-up to the next parliamentary election set for April 2016. 

In a partial reshuffle of the Cabinet a week earlier, Park nominated two lawmakers as transportation and maritime affairs ministers. Their formal appointment following parliamentary hearings will increase the number of Saenuri legislators in the 18-member Cabinet to six. Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo served as the ruling party’s floor leader for about eight months before he was nominated by Park in January for the No. 2 post in the executive branch.

Certainly, our Constitution does not prohibit lawmakers from concurrently serving as Cabinet members. In a constitutional democracy that adopts a presidential system of government, however, legislators are supposed to hold the administration in check. In this sense, it is natural that the heavy presence of ruling party lawmakers in the Cabinet is raising concern about the possible disruption in the checks and balances between the administration and the legislature.

Park further heightened this worry last Friday when she appointed three Saenuri lawmakers as her special advisers on political affairs. It is far from normal for sitting members of parliament to act with the president as her aides and attend regular meetings of presidential secretaries. As some experts point out, their appointment may be interpreted as violating the law that bans lawmakers from assuming public office other than Cabinet posts. It needs to be recalled that lawmakers made it a rule not only to leave their party but abandon their parliamentary seats when they were appointed as presidential secretaries under previous governments.

Park’s spokesperson said the appointment of the three lawmakers as her aides was intended to facilitate communication between the presidential office and political circles. But the measure, which came days after the Saenuri chairman wished for no more legislators to be assigned to roles in the administration, went against his earlier advice that Park should strengthen direct contact with political leaders instead of naming new advisers. Given two of the three advisers are shunned by the main opposition party, their appointment may be seen as mainly aimed at keeping her grip on the increasingly recalcitrant ruling party rather than communicating more smoothly with various political groups.

Indeed, most of the Saenuri lawmakers in the Cabinet are also regarded as figures who are more than ready to hit the same chord as Park. Prime Minister Lee made some people raise their eyebrows when he addressed Park in a way used in the era of authoritarian rule during a luncheon at the presidential office in December.

What is also characteristic of the personnel lineup of the Park administration is a heavy bias toward figures of older generations and from the southeastern Gyeongsang region, her political stronghold.

Many septuagenarians have been appointed to key posts since Park took office two years ago. Lee Byung-ho, a 75-year-old former espionage official who was nominated last week to head the National Intelligence Service, is set to become the oldest head of the top spy agency after going through a parliamentary hearing. His predecessor Lee Byung-kee, 68, replaced the presidential chief of staff, Kim Ki-choon, 76. He is relatively young compared to other key figures around the president.

Old age in itself may not be a decisive handicap for assuming office. Experience accumulated over a long period of time can often make a person wiser and more balanced. But filling most of the crucial posts with aged figures inevitably weakens the decision-making process.

Park, who turned 63 last month, appears to feel secure when she is surrounded by seasoned and verified lieutenants loyal to her. But this sort of lineup can hardly bring efficiency, swiftness and dynamism in working out and carrying forward policies, which the nation needs.

What may also help make Park feel stable but may actually weaken her presidency is to let figures from the southeastern part of the country virtually monopolize all key powerful posts, including chiefs of the prosecution, police and tax service. This monopoly of power by officials with the same regional background makes her campaign pledge to build a “100 percent Korea” sound hollow.

It should now be seriously questioned whether this personnel structure with layers of selected lawmakers, elderly associates and figures from the same region, who have in common allegiance to her, is the best for overcoming challenges facing the nation. In the meeting with party executives last week, Saenuri Chairman Kim said the lawmakers with Cabinet portfolios should not think of returning to the party without completing reform tasks. If his remark is actually applied as a principle, none will probably be back at the party. Still, most of them are expected to quit their ministerial jobs early next year to prepare to run in the next general election.

What should be noted last but not least is that the Cabinet and the presidential secretariat now have only one woman each. It is not exactly agreeable to see “all the president’s men” around the country’s first female leader.

By Kim Kyung-ho

Kim Kyung-ho is an editorial writer for The Korea Herald. He can be reached at khkim@heraldcorp.com. ― Ed.