Term of Top Prosecutor to be Protected

Jeong Chan-yong, senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs, stated, “It is President Roh Moo-hyun’s belief that the term of office for official positions with fixed terms has to be completed if there are no particular circumstances,” on Monday and added, “In the case of a top prosecutor, the principle of term protection will be commonly applied.”

“President Roh once mentioned, ‘Since the term is a social promise, it has to be respected’,” said Secretary Jeong at a news briefing, dismissing speculation raised from a section of the political circle that top prosecutor Song Kwang-soo would be replaced.

Secretary Jeong hinted that large-scale shake ups, including switching men working in the Seoul districts with those working in the provinces, would be conducted, stating, “We stick to the principle of interchanging personnel between Seoul and the provinces,” regarding the course for reassignments of prosecutors, including that of senior prosecutor, scheduled today.

Regarding the reshuffle of heads of government-affiliated organizations including public corporations, Jeong said, “No large-scale shake ups will be implemented, and reappointment may be possible,” adding, “But in my personal opinion, the heads of organizations and companies in which management performances are obviously terrible, or the organizations which are clamorous due to the poor command, should quit their positions for the sake of the people.”

“In the case of public corporations officials that we have picked out by opening the posts so far, we will introduce the ‘Ginseng Digger System’ to daringly select men with talent,” adding, “Despite the foreigners, we will have them mainly over the heads of government-affiliated organizations in the science and technology fields no matter what.”

Jung-Hun Kim jnghn@donga.com