S. Korean President asks for understanding amid PM controversy

Seoul, May 29 (IANS) South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday asked for understanding from people and opposition lawmakers over the controversy surrounding the Prime Minister-nominee.

The President also called on his secretaries to come up with detailed personnel standards that can meet expectations of people.

Moon named Lee Nak-yon, South Jeolla province Governor, the Prime Minister on May 10, just a day after winning a sweeping victory in the presidential election, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the course of a parliamentary confirmation hearing, allegations were made that Lee's wife falsely registered her address decades ago.

The Prime Minister is required to get a green light from the National Assembly to take office. Other cabinet posts are not subject to the parliamentary approval though they are required to undergo a hearing.

The ruling Democratic Party sought in vain to gain a parliamentary approval for Lee's nomination amid objections from opposition lawmakers.

Moon's chief of staff Im Jong-seok offered an apology last week, but the opposition parties demanded a direct apology from the President as the nomination broke Moon's campaign pledges.

On his campaign trail, Moon pledged to exclude anyone who is involved in the five major wrongdoings from the public posts.

The five misdeeds include fake resident registration, draft dodging, tax evasion, paper plagiarism and speculative investment in real estate.

Two other nominees as the Foreign Minister and the anti-trust watchdog chief were suspected of false address registration, causing objections from the rival parties.

During a meeting with senior secretaries, Moon said the controversy was caused due to the absence of a transition committee, which led to skipping of the process of drawing up a detailed standard for personnel affairs.

After the President's comments were made public, the centrist People's Party said it would cooperate from a wide perspective to help approve the appointment of the Prime Minister-nominee through the parliament.

Lee was widely expected to come into office in the near future as the centrist party has 40 lawmakers in the 299-seat parliament.

The Democratic Party controls 120 seats in the assembly, while the main opposition Liberty Korea Party has 107 seats. The approval requires at least half of the 299 votes in favour.