After pressure, heads of KDI, KLI offer their resignations

Hong Jang-pyo, president of the Korea Development Institute (KDI), pictured in an interview in December 2018. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The heads of the state-run Korea Development Institute (KDI) and Korea Labor Institute (KLI) offered to resign after the Yoon Suk-yeol government asked top officials appointed by the preceding administration to step down.

Hong Jang-pyo, president of the KDI, said in a statement Wednesday, "There is no reason for me to remain as the KDI president any longer if the prime minister chooses not listen to my opinions because they are different."

The Yoon administration and People Power Party (PPP) have called for the voluntary resignations of minister-level officials appointed by President Moon Jae-in, saying that public institutions should be on the same page as the government on policies.

Hong, the architect of the Moon administration's income-led growth set of policies, was appointed to lead the KDI in May 2021 for three years.

Previously an economics professor at Pukyong National University, Hong became Moon's senior secretary for economic affairs and served as chair of a special presidential committee on income-led growth.

Last week, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo called for Hong's resignation, saying, "It makes no sense for the architect of the income-led growth policies to stay as the KDI president," adding he is not "suitable" anymore.

Expressing "disappointment" at Han's remarks, Hong said in his statement, "The research reports of the KDI and other state-run research institutes should not change just because its head or the government changes."

He noted that state-run think tanks are guaranteed the terms of their chiefs by law "to ensure the autonomy and neutrality of research."

Hong said, "If the prime minister thinks that the KDI and other public research institutes should focus only on research that suits the taste of the administration and become the government's trumpeter, it is only logical to seek the consent of the people and change the law."

He also criticized the Yoon government's economic policies and said, "Private-led growth means that the economy grows only when large companies receive tax cuts and increase profits by suppressing wages," adding that even "the Lee Myung-bak administration saw this as an inappropriate policy 10 years ago."

He said, "Even if I leave, I believe KDI researchers will look to the people and carry out research without wavering according to their convictions."

Hwang Deok-soon, president of the Korea Labor Institute, similarly offered to resign Wednesday.

Hwang, a presidential senior secretary for jobs in the Moon administration, was appointed to head the state-run think tank in February for a three-year term. He was a research fellow at the KLI starting in 1997 and later served in four presidential secretary posts.

Hwang sent an email to KLI researchers and staffers expressing his intention to step down.

In the email, he said the KLI "should contribute to the development of national policy while enjoying autonomy and independence in research, but it has become difficult to strike a balance recently."

In contrast, Jeon Hyun-heui, chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), made clear she has no intention of resigning.

Jeon told MBC radio Thursday, "The ACRC is an institution whose independence and neutrality are guaranteed by the law."

She said that that the commission's chairperson is "recommended by the National Assembly or Supreme Court chief justice" and that her "status, independence and term" are guaranteed by law.

"The ACRC must not conform to any administration or any specific political opinion code," she added.

The liberal Democratic Party criticized the prime minister's remarks, with spokesman Oh Young-hwan telling reporters Thursday they constituted an "abuse of power" against which legal action should be taken.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]