“The more difficult the country is, the more important the role of public officials becomes. “Please dedicate yourself to the country and its people with a sense of duty as the center of national affairs.”
Acting President Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, said this to the ministers and vice ministers gathered at the government opening ceremony held at the Seoul Government Complex on the 2nd. Acting President Choi said, “Public officials are people who serve the people,” and “I firmly believe that all public officials will perform their duties with one mind.” On this day, for the first time in constitutional history, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, rather than the Prime Minister, presided over the ceremony as acting authority.
Acting President Choi selected ‘establishing a solid security posture’ as the government’s top priority at the inaugural ceremony. He mentioned the fact that the second Trump administration will be inaugurated on January 20th of this year and said, “We will quickly respond to pending issues in various fields such as diplomacy, security, and trade, and communicate closely with major countries such as the United States.” Acting Choi ordered the economic authorities to “manage external creditworthiness as a top priority by communicating closely with overseas credit rating agencies and investors, and strengthen collaboration between ministries and agencies to prevent volatility in the financial and foreign exchange markets from expanding.” Acting President Choi emphasized, “In order to stabilize national affairs and resolve pending issues, unity and cooperation among the leadership, including the National Assembly, the ruling and opposition parties, and the political circles, are urgently needed.” At the government opening ceremony on this day, Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Moon-soo and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In-chon and other State Council members attended the ceremony. They also attended without ‘boycotting’. Earlier, when Minister Kim and other State Council members announced at the Cabinet meeting on the 31st of last month that Acting President Choi would appoint two judges of the Constitutional Court, they asked, “Why did you make such a decision without consultation? He strongly protested, saying, “Have you reviewed the law?”
On the surface, Acting President Choi’s emphasis on the dedication of public officials at the government opening ceremony appears to be an attempt to strengthen the discipline of the public service community, which is in turmoil in the aftermath of the impeachment of the President and Prime Minister. However, there is also an interpretation within the government that “Acting Acting President Choi was sending a message to the Presidential Staff and State Council members who expressed their resignation in opposition to the appointment of judges.” The Ministry of Strategy and Finance reported that Presidential Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok and all senior secretaries of the Presidential Office collectively expressed their resignation to Acting President Choi the day before, but Acting President Choi rejected the offer. It is reported that Acting President Choi also rejected on this day the resignation letter of Acting Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission Kim Tae-gyu, who expressed his intention to resign in protest of the announcement of the appointment of judges.
Reporter Ko Do-ye [email protected]
-
- great
- 0dog
-
- I’m sad
- 0dog
-
- I’m angry
- 0dog