Agriculture minister offers to resign
Agriculture Minister Yoo Jeong-bok tests the full-body disinfection booth at Incheon International Airport yesterday after he announced his intention to step down to take responsibility for the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. [YONHAP]
“I will do my best to put an end to this crisis as soon as possible and resign after clearing up the situation,” Yoo said at an urgently called media conference yesterday. “As minister, I will take all responsibility for the current outbreak and I will fulfill my duty as a public servant until the last day.”
The Blue House did not issue any official response to Yoo’s offer to resign.
Since the first outbreak was reported on Nov. 23 in Andong, North Gyeongsang, the government has been forced to cull nearly 3 million farm animals over the past two months, costing about 1.4 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in compensation to farmers. According to the government, more than 2.63 million pigs and nearly 144,600 cows were killed.
As the disease spread quickly and widely, Yoo stood at the center of fierce criticism from not only the opposition parties, but also some inside the ruling party.
Yoo, however, said that the politicians’ blame game won’t help resolve the situation. “Because of the vaccination, the disease appeared to have calmed down a bit recently,” Yoo said. “But it is premature to say that the situation has ended. Now is the time to concentrate all thoughts and abilities to end the outbreak.
“When the time passes, it will become clearer who is responsible. But as a politician, I determined that I must take responsibility rather than having a debate on who is responsible,” Yoo said.
Yoo, a two-term lawmaker of the Grand National Party, was nominated to head the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in August during the cabinet reshuffle. The appointment was seen as being highly political since Yoo was the former chief of staff for Park Geun-hye, President Lee Myung-bak’s GNP rival. The decision was seen as an attempt to reconcile the rival factions inside the GNP.
Opposition parties have criticized Yoo for lacking expertise in the field. Shortly after his appointment, Yoo faced skyrocketing prices for cabbage. The outbreak of FMD followed, and the Agriculture Ministry was soon under fire for its slow response. Poor quarantine measures and reluctance to order vaccinations were blamed for the epidemic.
The GNP remained cautious yesterday about Yoo’s move, asking the minister to complete his fight against the disease, rather than talking about responsibility. The opposition parties, however, intensified their attacks on the Lee administration, demanding more than the minister’s head. “Yoo’s resignation is an obvious consequence, but it’s not enough to resolve the problem,” DP’s spokeswoman Cha Young said in a statement.
By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr]
Related Korean Article [중앙일보]
쌀 수매 파동→배추 사태→구제역 대유행…유정복 결국 “물러나겠다”
농식품장관 5개월 만에 사의 표명
유정복 농림수산식품부 장관이 사의를 표명했다. 장관 취임 5개월 만이다.
유 장관은 28일 정부 과천청사에서 기자들을 불러 “현재의 구제역 사태를 조속히 종식시키고 모든 상황을 말끔히 수습한 다음 깨끗이 물러나겠다”고 밝혔다. 이어 최근 일고 있는 구제역 책임론에 대해 “모든 책임은 장관이 질 것이며, 끝까지 책임을 다하는 공직자의 자세를 잃지 않겠다”고 말했다.
유 장관은 어찌 보면 불행한(?) 장관이었다. 한국 농정을 책임지는 자리에 올랐지만 평소 머릿속에 그렸던 정책을 제대로 펼칠 수 없었다. 되레 끊임없이 터지는 사건을 뒷수습하기도 벅찼다. 취임 다음 날인 지난해 8월 31일 쌀 수급 긴급대책을 발표해야 했다. 쌀 문제가 어느 정도 수습되자 이번엔 배추값이 폭등했다. 유 장관은 “국민들에게 송구하다”는 말을 입에 달고 살아야 했다. 결정타는 11월 28일 터진 구제역이었다. 끝없는 대책회의와 현장 방문, 사무실에 간이침대를 비치하고 수시로 밤을 새웠다. 그래도 불거지는 책임론을 비켜갈 순 없었다. …
http://news.joins.com/article/643/4993643.html?ctg=
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)