Appoint the inspector before it’s too late

In an upcoming meeting with DP leader Lee Jae-myung, Han must strongly urge Lee to recommend them and Lee must accept the request.

The internal division over whether to appoint a special inspector to look into the possible corruption of the president’s close relatives continues to deepen. After changing his position on the appointment, People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon straightforwardly demanded the presidential office to appoint the inspector without linking the issue to the governing party’s call for the appointment in return for the Democratic Party’s recommendation of candidates for the board of directors at the North Korean Human Rights Foundation. In response, PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho, close to President Yoon Suk Yeol, insisted that it’s an issue which should be resolved by PPP lawmakers. The PPP leader is not a legislator.

But the PPP can’t afford such a battle over the appointment of a special inspector. According to a recent Gallup Korea poll, President Yoon’s approval rating plunged to 20 percent. Former President Park Geun-hye’s approval rating was 17 percent in 2016 after she apologized for power abuse. After her rating plummeted to 5 percent the following week, Park was impeached by the legislature. Without extraordinary measures to prevent his approval rating from falling further, Yoon may not be able to avoid the tragic path of Park.

In the latest poll, 15 percent of the respondents attributed the president’s decline in approval ratings to the first lady risks. In other words, Yoon can turn the tide if he can address the deepening risks from the first lady. The special inspector system was introduced in 2015 during the Park administration. But after the first inspector accused Park’s sister of committing fraud, the post has been empty in her administration and in the following Moon Jae-in administration. Moon’s presidential office said that the special inspector’s role overlaps that of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO).

President Yoon also responded negatively to appointing a special inspector. But we wonder how the appointment of an inspector can be related to the recommendation for candidates for the human rights foundation. Appointing the inspector offers the last chance for Yoon to calm the deepening public sentiment against his wife. If a special inspector is appointed, he or she can help prevent any further mistakes by the first lady.

The DP must cooperate with appointing a special inspector because the president must choose one of the three candidates recommended through a bipartisan agreement. The DP has no reason to oppose recommending them. In an upcoming meeting with DP leader Lee Jae-myung, Han must strongly urge Lee to recommend them and Lee must accept the request.