President Moon Jae-in on Thursday hinted that he would not give up on Foreign Minister nominee Kang Kyung-wha, urging opposition parties to cooperate in handling her parliamentary confirmation process.



He also underlined that as state chief, he is entitled by law to appoint Cabinet members with or without parliamentary consent and urged opposition parties to consider the current diplomatic vacuum and the imminent Korea-US summit.





President Moon Jae-in (2nd from R) speaks during a meeting with his senior secretaries at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on June 15, 2017. (Yonhap)



“(The opposition) says that if the president appoints (Kang), it will end efforts for cooperative governance or even boycott parliamentary affairs. Such exertion of pressure is truly unacceptable,” Moon said.



“Having kicked off amid an emergency situation without a transition committee, the current government is working to minimize state affairs vacuum and to organize the Cabinet, despite the lack of personnel system and confirmation standards.”



Three opposition parties have been boycotting Kang’s nomination, citing her past record of false residence registration and the president’s earlier vow for integrity in the bureaucratic society.



“Our Constitution and laws are very clear on the authority of the president and of the legislature upon government personnel,” Moon said.



“It was only for the sake of thorough verification that the Participatory Government (under the late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun) introduced a confirmation hearing process (for minister nominees).”



While the appointment of prime minister, Constitutional Court chief, Supreme Court chief, and Board of Audit and Inspection chief require parliamentary consent, minister-level Cabinet members may take office upon presidential designation, should the Assembly fail to set its stance within due time.



“It is up to the people to review the confirmation result and make the final decision, and I shall abide by the will of the people,” the president said.



“The Korea-US summit is coming up in two weeks, to be followed by the Group of 20 summits and other key diplomatic agendas, which the president cannot carry out in the absence of a foreign minister.”



Following the president’s comments, Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday gestured at forcing ahead with Kang’s appointment as early as on Sunday, with or without parliamentary consensus.



“We have requested the National Assembly to endorse the confirmation report on nominee Kang by May 17,” a Blue House official told reporters, alluding that Moon will move ahead with her appointment as early as Sunday.



Upon the legislature’s disapproval of a nomination, the president may request for a second review within a maximum period of 10 days. The endorsement of Kang’s report was originally due by Wednesday but was thwarted by the dominant opposition.





Kang Kyung-hwa (Yonhap)