President Park Geun-hye is expected to soon name the heads of two new state agencies to be established in accordance with a recently passed bill on government restructuring, political officials said Sunday.
The government reorganization act, set to be promulgated Wednesday, calls for the establishment of the two new bodies, one to handle national disaster management and the other to address shady relationships between regulators and businesses.
The move comes after the government faced heavy criticism that its botched initial response to the April 16 sinking of the ferry Sewol contributed to the high death toll of 295, with nine people still missing.
Also, cozy ties between government regulators and businesses were blamed for sloppy safety checks on the ill-fated ship. In South Korea, government officials have long known to take up new jobs related to their previous duties soon after retirement.
One of the three recently passed bills calls for restricting public officials’ re-employment for three years after retirement and punishing violations of that law with up to two years in prison or up to 20 million won (US$18,160) in fines.
Officials at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Park, who is in Australia for a summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies, will likely name the chiefs of the two new agencies soon after she returns home Monday.
Lee Sung-ho, second vice minister of security and public administration, has emerged as a strong candidate to become the inaugural head of the new disaster management agency.
A retired Army three-star general, Lee, 59, is considered an expert in security. In 2011, Lee was in charge of the successful naval rescue operation that saved 21 crew members aboard the captured Samho Jewelry in the Arabian Sea.
High-ranking officials from the ministry of security and Prime Minister’s Office are being considered for the top job in the new agency to handle human resources, though no specific names have surfaced. Sources also said civilian experts from outside the government will also get a long look. (Yonhap)
