Acting leader learned role through 6 administrations

Politics

Acting leader learned role through 6 administrations

Published: 12 Mar. 2004, 23:06

Prime Minister Goh Kun, who has taken over as South Korea’s acting president, is a veteran administrator.
The 66-year-old politician has held significant posts in the past six administrations. He has been a minister three times, and the mayor of Seoul twice. This is his second turn as the country’s prime minister.
By law, when the National Assembly submitted its impeachment resolution to the Constitutional Court yesterday, President Roh’s authority was suspended and Mr. Goh assumed the duties and rights of the president. He will serve as acting president until the Constitutional Court delivers a ruling on the impeachment.
Mr. Goh began his career in public service at the home affairs ministry in 1962. During the Park Chung Hee administration, he served as governor of North Jeolla and as Blue House secretary. After Mr. Park’s assassination in 1979, he was political affairs secretary during Choi Kyu-hah’s brief tenure as president.
During the Chun Doo Hwan administration of 1980 to 1988, Mr. Goh headed three ministries: transportation, agriculture and home affairs. Under President Roh Tae-woo, who governed from 1988 to 1993, he became mayor of Seoul.
Mr. Goh served as prime minister during the Kim Young-sam administration between 1993 to 1998, but the economic crisis of 1997 and 1998 jeopardized his career as a bureaucrat. However, he was elected mayor of Seoul in 1998, serving until 2002.
When Mr. Goh was named the Roh administration’s prime minister in 2003, observers said his moderation and neutrality would balance Mr. Roh’s drive for reform.
Mr. Goh now commands the nation’s military and has final authority over diplomatic decisions. He also has the right to declare martial law in case of national emergency. He has the power to appoint and dismiss public servants and exercise presidential pardons.
The National Defense Ministry and the National Intelligence Service will report directly to Mr. Goh on security issues, and he will be the administration’s chief policymaker.
Scholars of politics and constitutional law consider it unlikely that Mr. Goh will try to shift the Roh administration’s policy foundations. They believe that the acting president, since he was not directly elected, must work chiefly to maintain order rather than pursue significant change. The prime minister’s office has briefed Mr. Goh on the scholars’ views.

by Ser Myo-ja