Jang Dong-hyeok: reshuffle signals all-in push to cancel Lee's trials

Jeong Jeom-sik: government set to repeat failures of Moon administration

People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on Monday. At left is floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik. [Yonhap]
People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok speaks at a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly on Monday. At left is floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik. [Yonhap]

The People Power Party on Monday condemned the government's nomination of new cabinet minister candidates as a "reshuffle going against public will" and urged the administration to withdraw the appointments.

PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok convened a supreme council meeting at the National Assembly that morning, saying President Lee Jae Myung had carried out a "surprise cabinet reshuffle on Sunday."

Jang took particular aim at the nomination of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Seung-won as justice minister candidate, describing him as "co-chair of a group advocating for the withdrawal of indictments" and "a figure who has been spearheading the special prosecutor act on dropping charges and the removal of the breach-of-trust offense."

Jang displayed a past Facebook post by Kim to press his criticism. He quoted Kim as writing on July 30, 2024: "Today at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, we take the first step toward the impeachment of Prosecutor Kim Young-chul. We will expose in full the crimes of the lawless political prosecutors who have tormented Democratic Party leader Lee Jae Myung, his family and his comrades through fabrication and intimidation." Jang said it was obvious what someone like that would do as justice minister. "No matter how strongly the public opposes it, this signals an all-in push to cancel the trials," he said.

On the nomination of Yong Hye-in as gender equality and family minister candidate, Jang said the administration had "put forward the absurd Yong Hye-in card in response to the anger of young people," adding that "the fury index among those in their 20s and 30s has surpassed the breaking point."

Jang also pressed outgoing Minister Ahn Gyu-baek, saying he was "ultimately stepping down without clearing the desertion allegations" and urging him to keep his promise to release his military service records once he left the post.

Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik said a cabinet reshuffle communicates a president's "direction and priorities for governance," and accused the administration of using this reshuffle to "declare an outright refusal to carry out the policy overhaul the public is demanding."

Jeong said what the public wants is for the government to "fix the misguided economic policies that have caused instability in shares, real estate and prices, restore shaky national security and the South Korea-US alliance, and stop dismantling the rule of law to cancel President Lee Jae Myung's trials."

He went on to call the reshuffle "a substandard left-wing coalition reshuffle aimed at propping up approval ratings and saving Lee Jae Myung," asking sarcastically whether the administration was "divvying up posts because it felt it had neglected the left for too long." He also said the intent was clearly "to consolidate the left-wing base by stoking divisions along factional, generational and gender lines — as the Moon Jae-in administration did — and use that force to pursue the cancellation of Lee's trials."

Jeong said the reshuffle "may produce a temporary bump in approval ratings" but would "ultimately repeat the failures of the Moon Jae-in administration." He added that the PPP "will conduct a thorough, probing confirmation hearing for each of the minister candidates."


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