Resubmission deadline for hearing report cut to just one day

President Yoon Suk Yeol requested the National Assembly last Wednesday to resubmit the personnel hearing results report for Lee Jin-sook, who was then a candidate for the Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission. The next day, despite the short one-day deadline, he proceeded with the appointment. According to the Personnel Hearing Act, the president can request the National Assembly submit the report within 10 days if it fails to do so initially.

Typically, the president allows the ruling and opposition parties two to three days to coordinate their opinions when there is opposition to adopting the hearing report. For example, when President Yoon appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Park Soon-ae in July 2022, he allowed a deadline of seven days, and in some cases, at least two to three days.

However, the resubmission deadline for Chairman Lee Jin-sook's appointment was set for the same day, an unprecedented move following the appointment of former Korea Communications Commission Chairman Kim Hong-il in December last year. This likely reflects the ruling party's determination to expedite the approval of public broadcasting directors and their recognition that the opposition party would not change its stance. Nevertheless, it underscored the 'strong versus strong' confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties, highlighting the lack of dialogue or compromise.

As President Yoon approved the appointment of Yoo Sang-im as Minister of Science and ICT last Friday, the number of ministers appointed without the National Assembly’s adoption of a personnel hearing report under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration increased to 26. In comparison, former President Moon Jae-in pushed through the appointment of 34 ministers without the opposition party’s consent during his term. Even when comparing the same period of two years and three months since their inaugurations, the current administration has more such appointments, with 23 under the former Moon Jae-in's administration.

As a result, some point out that the personnel hearing system, which is intended to evaluate whether a candidate's abilities and ethics align with public expectations and enable the National Assembly to check the president's power over appointments, has been rendered ineffective. Critics question the purpose of holding personnel hearings if the president will push through appointments regardless of the outcome.

Another issue is that the confirmation hearing fails to function effectively as a verification body, often devolving into sessions that expose personal information and lead to public humiliation. For example, in Chairman Lee's hearing, the opposition extended the process to an unprecedented three days, focusing on allegations like corporate credit card misuse during his time as president of Daejeon MBC, yet failed to land a decisive blow. Meanwhile, the ruling party defended him, asserting that he was 'the right person for reforming broadcasting, including MBC.' Similarly, during Minister Yoo's hearing, the opposition brought up the activities of his eldest son while in the United States, even exposing his son’s medical history. Despite no major flaws being revealed, the opposition refused to adopt the confirmation hearing report. The need for reforming the confirmation hearing system to emphasize policy and ability verification is increasingly being voiced, but the ongoing confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties is stalling these discussions.

Positions requiring opposition party approval remain unfilled due to the intense political standoff. For example, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo offered to resign after the ruling party's defeat in the April 10 general election, sparking discussions about his replacement. However, the process was quietly dropped. Ruling party officials pointed out that appointing a new prime minister would require a vote in the National Assembly's plenary session. Given the deepening conflict with the opposition, which controls 192 seats, obtaining their approval seems unlikely.

The key to breaking the deadlock between the ruling and opposition parties ultimately lies with President Yoon. A constructive step would be to make personnel decisions that the opposition can accept, achieved through open dialogue. There were even discussions, right after the April 10 general elections, about considering former Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun and former Director of the Democratic Research Institute Yang Jeong-cheol for the roles of prime minister and chief of staff to the president, respectively. This suggests that President Yoon might have some willingness to cooperate with the opposition, a move that could potentially lead to significant progress.