By Kim Yon-se
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak replaced all seven presidential secretaries Friday, including his chief of staff, in the hope of regaining some of his lost public support.
The shakeup came one day after he made a second apology to the people for his ``missteps.''
``It is unusual to replace all presidential secretaries so early in an administration. However, President Lee's plunge in public support over the past several months is unprecedented, even by the standards of Korea's often volatile politics,'' said Andy Jackson, a professor at Ansan College.
Lee appointed Chung Chung-kil, president of Ulsan University, as the new chief of staff, while retaining spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.
Chung, born in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province in 1942, is a renowned scholar in public administration. He served as graduate school president at Seoul National University in 2001 and 2002.
It had been speculated that Lee would appoint a ``politician'' to the post, but he chose a professor again despite criticism that secretaries from the non-political sector have failed to understand what the people really wanted.
Lee's first Chief of Staff Yu Woo-ik and all of the seven top aides offered to resign June 6 to take responsibility for the ``faulty'' U.S. beef import deal.
Michael Breen, president of Insight Communications Consultants in Seoul, said replacing senior presidential secretaries was ``an attempt, along with other measures by the President, to overcome the current crisis and regain the popular support."
He noted that it is indeed possible that these recent measures ― the Presidential apology; the firing of senior Blue House secretaries; and the Cabinet reshuffle, will be effective.
But these measures alone will not work, Breen observed. The President will also need to show the public that there has been ``a meaningful renegotiation'' in the beef import agreement, he said. If the President has all these pieces together, ``then the whole issue may finally die down."
Breen said that given the nature and depth of the protests, a Cheong Wa Dae personnel reshuffle may have been appropriate. ``The reshuffle may work. But it's unfortunate because the Blue House staff are not really at fault,'' he said.
Breen also added that the new arrangement could hurt the administration in the long run. ``If the President can fire the chief of staff to improve his approval ratings, that can weaken the reputation and the authority of senior presidential secretaries. And that's unfortunate.
``In fact, I am sure President Lee himself feels it's unfortunate that he has to fire them.''
Jackson said Lee's biggest problem was that he failed to effectively communicate with the public. ``He needs to clearly state his policy goals and how he plans to achieve them, even if they are not popular.''
Dealing with disagreement over a policy is almost never as bad as dealing with the public fears based on rumors, he added.
Hiring new Cabinet members and presidential secretaries will only help if they can demonstrate that they are more public relations savvy and can assist Lee overcome his own communications problem.
Analysts have said that with over four-and-a-half years left in his term, Lee will have a National Assembly that has a large majority of conservatives and should concentrate his efforts on dealing with bread-and-butter issues for now and return to his reform agenda as the political situation stabilizes.
Kim Sung-hwan, 55, incumbent second vice minister for foreign affairs, was appointed as the senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and national security.
Pahk Jae-wan, the senior presidential secretary for political affairs, was replaced by Maeng Hyung-kyu, 62, a former TV anchorman and third-term legislator of the governing Grand National Party (GNP).
However, Pahk, 62, will not leave Cheong Wa Dae. Lee reassigned him as the senior presidential secretary for state affairs planning to replace Kwak Seung-joon.
The President named Woori Financial Group Chairman Bahk Byong-won, who served as a vice finance minister under the Roh Moo-hyun administration, as the senior presidential secretary for economic policy.
Park Hyung-joon, 48, was designated as the senior secretary for public relations in state affairs, a new post aimed at effective media policy.
Spokesman Lee and Park worked on the presidential transition committee between December and February.
Kang Yoon-koo, 57, a former health-welfare vice minister and Chung Tong-ki, 55, will be in charge of social policy and civil affairs, respectively.
The President also replaced Lee Joo-ho with Hanyang University professor Cheong Jean-gon, 58, in the post of senior presidential secretary for education, science and culture.
Many opposition lawmakers stressed the reshuffle cannot be a fundamental solution for the normalization of the Lee administration. They said the beef ``renegotiation'' with Washington to regain ``quarantine sovereignty'' would be the right answer.
President Lee is expected to conduct the Cabinet reshuffle next week.