Presidential office denies pro-Moon figures being considered for key posts

The presidential office dismissed reports Wednesday that figures closely aligned with former President Moon Jae-in were being considered for prime minister and presidential aide posts.

Former SMEs Minister Park Young-sun, center, watches President Yoon Suk Yeol give a speech at Harvard University near Boston on April 29, 2023, during a state visit to the United States. [YONHAP]

The presidential office dismissed reports Wednesday that figures closely aligned with former President Moon Jae-in were being considered for prime minister and presidential aide posts.

The office responded to reports by broadcasters TV Chosun and YTN that morning that President Yoon Suk Yeol was considering former SMEs Minister Park Young-sun as a prime minister candidate and Yang Jung-chul, former head of the Democratic Party (DP) think tank Institute for Democracy, as his new chief of staff.

Park, a former journalist at public broadcaster MBC, became a four-term liberal lawmaker and served as SME minister under the Moon administration from 2019 to 2021.

Yang, likewise, is one of Moon's three closest confidants.

The office said in a statement to reporters, referring to reports made by "certain news outlets," that Park and Yang were "not being considered for appointments."

Last week, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and senior presidential aides, including chief of staff Lee Kwan-sup, tendered their resignations to take responsibility for the conservative People Power Party's (PPP) crushing defeat in the April 10 general election.

Most of the candidates mentioned previously to replace them have been closely aligned with Yoon and the PPP.

Yang Jung-chul, then head of the Democratic Party (DP)’s think tank, Institute for Democracy, enters a restaurant in Yeouido, western Seoul, in April 2020 to meet with DP lawmakers. [NEWS1]

With the DP's resounding victory, assuring it a majority in the 300-member National Assembly for another four years, Yoon will need to search for ways to reach across the political aisle to pass his reform agendas and budget bills in the parliament.

Presidential officials have offered mixed responses. Some claim there had been no such discussion of these Moon-aligned candidates, while other staffers say Yoon could be reviewing the possibility.

YTN also reported that Yoon is considering Kim Jong-min, a co-head of the minor Saemirae Party, to be a new special minister for political affairs. Kim is close with former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, who served in the Moon Cabinet and defected from the DP to create the Saemirae Party ahead of the parliamentary elections.

In a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Yoon apologized for the election defeat last week, accepting the results as a reflection of public sentiment, and promised better communication.

Members of the PPP had mixed reactions to the reports on Yoon's reshuffling of his Cabinet and presidential office.

PPP Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo said in a CBS radio interview that the move could be an "appropriate card to elicit cooperation from opposing parties," as was the case in some past presidential appointments.

PPP Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, who is known to be closely aligned with Yoon, criticized the possibility of such appointments Wednesday, calling it "quite disappointing," adding that "personnel who completely reject the party's identity should not even be reviewed, let alone be appointed."

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]