Ruling party lawmaker blasts personnel policy failure

In his interpellation of the government at the National Assembly plenary session Friday, Rep. Ham Seung-Hee of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) condemned what he saw as the failure of its personnel administration policy.

Ham said that the people voted the government into office based on the expectation that it would push ahead with structural reforms but that it has failed to do so.

He added that the public was disappointed that some of the politicians who served in the government of former president Kim Young-Sam were appointed as Cheong Wa Dae officials and cabinet members.

A significant number of the executive posts at state-invested corporations were filled by people who lack leadership ability and specialized knowledge, he said. Ham pointed out that some 82 percent of the senior officials at the 13 major state-run corporations are either non-specialists in their field or former supervisory agency officials.

The lawmaker said the bankruptcy of Hankook Real Estate Trust was mainly caused by previous governments but that the incumbent administration was also to blame due to its failure to rectify misguided personnel appointments.

He concluded that reform-oriented appointments of officials of government agencies and state-invested corporations are the way to restore public confidence in the administration.