SOUTH KOREA’S prime minister-designate and two other ministerial nominees resigned yesterday, amid allegations about corruption and unethical behaviour. The departure of his political allies has dealt a blow to President Lee Myung-bak.
The resignations came after last week’s heated confirmation hearing, when opposition politicians criticised Kim Tae-ho, the nominee for prime minister, for allegedly evading taxes and accepting bribes.
Lee Jae-hoon, the proposed minister of knowledge and economy, and Shin Jae-min, the candidate for culture minister, were also denounced for alleged financial misconduct and ethical lapses.
Their resignations are the latest setback for Mr Lee, who saw his ruling conservative party trounced in the mid-term elections in June.
The nominations came as part of a reshuffle earlier this month, when Mr Lee sacked about half of his cabinet ministers.
Had his nomination been approved, Mr Kim (47) would have been the country’s youngest prime minister in decades.
By choosing a relatively young prime minister, Mr Lee was trying to refresh his government’s image and strengthen communication with young South Koreans as he begins the second half of his five-year term.
The nomination backfired, though, as last week’s confirmation hearing exposed low ethical standards and alleged widespread corruption in South Korea’s political circles. Mr Kim was accused of under-reporting income, taking illegal bank loans for election campaigns and making civil servants do his household chores while he was a provincial governor.
He also came under fire for allowing his wife to use public vehicles for private purposes and allegedly lying about his links to a businessman convicted of bribery.
Mr Lee will accept the resignations by his three cabinet nominees “as an assessment that we have failed to meet the public’s standards”, said a statement from the presidential Blue House.
The controversy has led Mr Lee to strengthen official guidelines for the qualifications of cabinet appointees. His government will also check their backgrounds more thoroughly before any nomination.
Since he took office in February 2008, Mr Lee has been criticised by civic groups for his lack of communication with the public over key state affairs.
His approval rating suffered at the beginning of his term when some of his early nominees for cabinet posts failed to pass parliamentary confirmation hearings. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010