“Actively pushing participation” “Not at that stage”···Ministers clash in public one after another; will President Lee Jae Myung step in to ‘direct traffic’? - 경향신문

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President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a senior secretaries’ meeting held at Cheong Wa Dae on the 6th. Cheong Wa Dae Press Photographers

President Lee Jae Myung has been confronted with public disagreements among ministries over sensitive state affairs. From follow-up tasks to prosecutorial reform to North Korea policy and exceptions to the 52-hour workweek, ministers have presented diverging positions in public, drawing attention to what direction President Lee will set.

According to Cheong Wa Dae on the 9th, the first issue to surface was the operation of the joint prosecution-police investigation headquarters (joint task force). With the revised Criminal Procedure Act abolishing prosecutors’ investigative authority, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety have offered opposing views on whether the joint task force can continue to operate.

Minister of Justice Jeong Seong-ho said at a Cheong Wa Dae work briefing on the 5th, “(With the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Act,) the legal basis for prosecutorial investigations has entirely disappeared,” and “the basis for operating the joint task force is very weak.” Vice Minister of Justice Lee Jin-su also said, “If prosecutors directly intervene in investigations, controversy over unlawful investigation could arise,” and “it is difficult to maintain the current joint task force structure as it is.”

By contrast, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-joong said, “Rather than a prosecution-police joint task force, we may see a Public Prosecution OfficeSerious Crimes Investigation Officepolice joint task force,” and “prosecutors do not have direct investigative authority, but they can express opinions on investigations.” He suggested that even after the Prosecutors’ Office is reorganized into a Public Prosecution Office, a new form of joint investigative framework would be possible.

A difference in perspective between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Unification also emerged over North Korea policy. When Minister of Unification Jeong Dong-yeong proposed a four-party dialogue among the two Koreas and the United States and China, Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun said on the 5th that it was “a hope based on idealism,” adding, “Since Minister Jeong spoke in idealistic terms, I would like it to be discounted.” Minister Jeong countered the next day, saying, “Ideals are needed to change reality.”

The two ministries also showed differing temperatures over whether to attend the Eastern Economic Forum that Russia will host in Vladivostok from the 1st to the 4th of next month. Meeting reporters on the 4th, Minister Jeong said, “At the government level, we are actively pushing to participate in the Eastern Economic Forum.” With the possibility of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s attendance being mentioned, this is interpreted as an attempt to create an opportunity to resume dialogue with North Korea by improving relations with Russia.

Minister Cho, on the other hand, said, “In fact that is the domain of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” and, “We have not progressed to that point (of pushing to participate) yet.” Since the RussiaUkraine war, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has maintained a sanctions posture toward Russia and is taking a cautious stance on attending a forum led by Russia.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Employment and Labor clashed over applying exceptions to the 52-hour workweek under the tentatively named Mega-Special Zone Special Act. At the Kwanhun Forum on the 6th, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jeong-gwan said, “The will of young people who want to work should not be forcibly blocked by the system,” and, “There is a need to adjust the working-hours system across the high-tech industry as a whole, including startups as well as research and development (R&D).”

By contrast, Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon said at a press briefing on the 5th, “I said that even in the Semiconductor Special Act, if the exception to the 52-hour workweek is omitted, it is ‘a steamed bun without filling,’ but major domestic semiconductor companies are currently making huge profits even under the 52-hour system,” and, “Claims that an exception to the 52-hour workweek must not be omitted are overly excessive and are making healthy debate difficult.” The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which seeks to push the administration’s priority ‘three mega-projects,’ and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which is pursuing the national agenda of reducing working hours, have collided head-on.

All three issues share the feature of being sensitive agendas on which President Lee has not offered a clear direction. While he has sympathized with concerns that, following the abolition of prosecutors’ supplementary investigation authority, police might bury cases, he has left concrete legislation to the ruling party. In foreign policy, he has advocated pragmatism and maintained a balance between the autonomy camp and the alliance camp within the government. In February last year, when he was Democratic Party leader, he considered exceptions to the 52-hour workweek in the semiconductor sector but stepped back as labor’s backlash grew, saying, “We can find answers through social consensus.” Allowing long working hours is also directly tied to the youth sentiment that Cheong Wa Dae has been striving to win.

As differences among ministries have emerged, attention is focusing on the president’s final decision, which will set the course of these issues. How effectively he reduces the mounting policy noise and smooths out inter-ministerial positions is expected to serve as a test of President Lee’s ability to coordinate state affairs. Choi Chang-ryeol, a professor at Yongin University, said, “Given that ministries have different goals, the mere fact that differences among ministers are publicly revealed is not itself a problem, but those differences should not be exposed for a long time and lead to policy confusion,” adding, “The Prime Minister’s Office or the Cheong Wa Dae policy chief should coordinate and broker among ministries.”

There are also views that, given the conflicting interests and policy goals of each ministry, the governmet’s internal coordination functions need to work properly before a presidential decision. Professor Choi said, “At present, every ministry looks only to the president’s words, so the workload is concentrating excessively on the president,” and, “The coordinating role of the Prime Minister, who directs the cabinet under the Constitution, is important.”