Moon's big gamble

Appointment of Cho Kuk deepens political turmoil


President Moon Jaein appointed the disputed nominee Cho Kuk as justice minister and five other nominees to ministerial and minister-level posts, Monday.

This came after Moon conducted a Cabinet reshuffle on Aug. 9. Since then, there have been massive media reports centered on fraud and corruption allegations involving Cho's family, especially his daughter and wife. on Friday, the prosecution indicted Cho's wife, Chung Kyungsim, an English literature professor at Dongyang University, on charges of fabricating the university dean's award certificate in 2012 to help her daughter gain admission to a medical school. Depending on how the investigation unfolds, Cho's daughter could be indicted as well.

Accordingly, Cho, as justice minister, will supervise the prosecution investigating his wife and daughter. What a bizarre situation! Aside from personal feelings Cho may have about what is happening to his family, few wouldn't doubt the credibility of any outcome of the ongoing investigations. This is a big potential political risk for Moon.

Despite this and the negative public feelings toward Cho's family, the liberal President chose to go ahead with him. This is viewed as an ｅxpression of his strong willingness to complete the ongoing judicial reform centered on limiting the prosecution's power given that Cho had spearheaded this project as a senior civil affairs secretary from May 2017 to July this year. In a confirmation hearing and a press conference last week, Cho, a law professor at Seoul National University, vowed to finish this challenging job, if given the chance.

In this sense, Cho's appointment is the beginning of a do-or-die political battle for Moon. This may also reflect his determination to reform the prosecution, which has a shameful history of intervening in politics through biased investigations and the leaking of confidential information it obtained in the course of conducting investigations. In Cho's case, there were many media reports based on insider information from the prosecution. Even an opposition lawmaker showed a document that he claimed was retrieved from Cho's seized computer through "forensic science" while attacking Cho in a confirmation hearing.

It is notable that the prosecution has strongly protested against "being reformed" by the Moon administration.

It seems inevitable that Moon's decision about Cho will throw the nation deeper into political turmoil, and polarize society further. It is undeniable that the biggest conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) had been going all out to block Cho from becoming the justice minister mainly because it sees the judicial reform as a calculated attempt to extend liberal rule and stifle political opponents. Describing Moon as a "dictator," the LKP vowed to push for a National Assembly investigation into the suspicions surrounding Cho's family and a separate probe by the independent counsel.

President Moon may have considered many factors in appointing Cho. Most importantly, there has been no concrete evidence showing his direct involvement in any suspicions surrounding his family and relatives. This and Cho's strong resolve to complete the judicial reform may have been guiding factors for Moon.

But Cho's appointment is only the beginning of a rough road ahead for Moon. The negative public sentiment toward Cho and the political fights stemming from deepening ideological polarization of society will remain pressing problems for him. Above all, it seems he doesn't regard conservative parties as political partners in a true sense in governing the nation, although the way they have been doing politics has been really frustrating.

For a reality check and to prevent another tragedy in the country's presidential history, Moon should ask himself: Am I taking the path of a dictator?