Lee promises to consult ruling party about his choice for justice minister

(ATTN: UPDATES with quotes in paras 5-7)
SEOUL, July 13 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak told ruling party leaders Wednesday that he will consult them about his pick for justice minister, an aide said, amid a looming row over Lee's reported move to name one of his senior secretaries to the post.
The lunch meeting between Lee and Rep. Hong Joon-pyo and other newly elected leaders of the ruling Grand National Party came as some GNP members voiced opposition to Lee's reported plan to nominate Kwon Jae-jin, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, for justice minister.
They cited concerns that the appointment of a close presidential aide as justice minister could raise questions over law enforcement's neutrality ahead of next year's general and presidential elections.
Opposition lawmakers have already been crying foul over the move.
"We should not change the principle that we called for when we were an opposition party just because we are now the ruling party," Rep. Nam Kyung-pil told Lee, according to the lawmaker.
Kwon's nomination would be seen as an "appointment that is not very good, and please take this into consideration," he said.
Lee was quoted as saying he has made no decision yet and that he understood Nam's point.
Lee also said he will discuss his choice for justice minister with Chairman Rep. Hong and floor leader Rep. Hwang Woo-yea before announcing the nomination, a senior presidential official said on the condition of anonymity.
The official said, however, that it is "nonsense" to ban presidential secretaries from becoming ministers.
"Aren't ministers and senior presidential secretaries all staff to the president?" the official said. "In the United States, White House aides and ministers are all secretaries."
The nomination of a new justice minister could come at the same time as when Lee names a new chief prosecutor after Prosecutor-General Kim Joon-gyu left office last week in protest over the passage of a bill that prosecutors claim restricts their oversight of police investigations.
Officials said Lee intends to fill the top prosecutor slot as early as possible, with leading candidates including Han Sang-dae, chief of the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office, and Cha Dong-min, head of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office.
But Han's nomination could also raise eyebrows among the opposition parties because of his exemption from mandatory military service.
In South Korea, fulfillment of military service is considered a key ethical requirement for high-level office holders and politicians because in the past, children of influential people were often exempted from the service through illicit means.


jschang@yna.co.kr