Unstoppable desire to stay in power (KOR)

SHIM SAE-ROM
The author is a communications team reporter of the JoongAng Holdings.

Political circles are paying keen attention to the possibility of former senior presidential secretaries for civil affairs to run for a legislative seat in next year’s parliamentary elections. The two secretaries are Cho Kuk — who served former liberal President Moon Jae-in — and Woo Byung-woo, who was referred to as “king secretary” during the conservative Park Geun-hye administration.

Both were noted as favorites of the past administration. Although it is now abolished, the position of senior presidential secretary for civil affairs dealt with punishing enemies of the president with the authority entrusted by the president. Cho and Woo were “the big shots of the big shots” while working in the Blue House. They both had a prestigious academic background of studying law at Seoul National University — and wealth. When public officials disclosed their assets, Cho was known to have 2 billion won ($1.6 million) in cash in 2017, while Woo was indisputably the richest public servant with the asset worth 39.3 billion won in 2016.

Both men similarly had fallen from the peak of power to the abyss. Though they had been in charge of inspection, they became a suspect and defendant later. In the process of moving to the post of justice minister, Cho was sentenced to prison in the first trial and dismissed from his position as a professor at Seoul National University Law School due to irregularities with his children for their college admissions and the private equity funds scandal. His wife is in prison and her daughter has filed a lawsuit against the cancellation of her admission to a medical school.

Woo also served a year in jail after being singled out as the key figure in the Park Geun-hye administration’s manipulation of state affairs. The Supreme Court found him guilty of illegal inspection through the National Intelligence Service, abuse of power and obstruction of justice.

The two ex-secretaries seem to consider running in the parliamentary elections scheduled for next April for their revival rather than taking a “quiet retreat” from the political stage.

Woo said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on June 9, “As I’ve been in public office all my life, I’m thinking a lot about what I can do for the country.” Meanwhile, Cho wrote on Facebook on June 10, “I am thinking about what I should do in the times of regression and retrogression when everything from the Moon Jae-in administration is being denied.”

Although they are making excuses about their career or the current state of the nation, their true purposes may be clearing their victimhood from political investigations. Woo said, “There were few cases of punishment for abuse of authority in the past.” Cho said that his family went through the infernal trial because of himself.

While they are free to run in the election, they must not forget that many people suffered from the brutal investigations they led. Both the governing People Power Party and the Democratic Party are already perplexed at the signs of their returns.

민정수석
심새롬 중앙홀딩스 커뮤니케이션팀 기자

다시 등장한 전직 민정수석들의 출마 가능성에 정치권이 촉각을 곤두세운다. 문재인 전 대통령의 남자로 불린 조국 전 민정수석, 그리고 박근혜 정부 시절 자타공인 ‘왕수석’이던 우병우 전 민정수석이다.

두 사람 모두 과거 정권의 총아(寵兒)로 주목받았다. 지금은 폐지됐지만 청와대 민정수석비서관이란 자리 자체가 대통령의 칼자루를 모아쥐고 관리하는 역할이다. 조국·우병우는 청와대 근무 시절 ‘실세 중 실세’로 활동했다. 부족할 것 없는 학벌(서울법대)이나 재산 같은 배경도 화제였다. 공직자 재산공개 때 ‘예금 20억 현금 부자 조국’(2017년), ‘393억 부동의 1위 우병우’(2016년) 같은 타이틀이 따라다녔다.

둘은 권력의 정점에서 나락으로 떨어진 것도 비슷하다. 사정(査定)을 좌지우지하던 그들 자신이 피의자·피고인이 됐다. 조 전 수석은 법무부장관으로 자리를 옮기는 과정에서 입시 비리·사모펀드 범죄 등이 불거져 1심에서 실형을 선고받고 서울대 교수직에서 파면됐다. 부인(정경심 전 동양대 교수)은 수감 생활을, 딸(조민씨)은 의전원 입학 취소 불복 소송을 하고 있다. 우 전 수석도 박근혜 정부 ‘국정농단’ 핵심 인물로 지목돼 1년여 옥살이를 했다. 대법원이 국가정보원을 통해 불법 사찰한 혐의(직권남용권리행사방해)를 유죄로 인정했다.

‘조용한 퇴장’ 대신 ‘절치부심 부활’을 꿈꾸는 두 사람이 나란히 총선 출마를 저울질하는 걸 본다. 우 전 수석은 지난 9일 본지 인터뷰에서 “평생 공직에 있었으니 국가를 위해서 할 수 있는 일이 과연 뭘까를 많이 생각하고 있다”고 했다. 조 전 수석은 10일 SNS에 “문재인 정부의 모든 것이 부정되는 역진과 퇴행의 시간 속에서 무엇을 해야 하는지 고민하고 있다”고 적었다. 경력이나 정국 핑계를 대고 있지만, 아마도 ‘정치 수사의 부당한 희생양이 됐다’는 억울함 해소가 이들의 진짜 목적 아닐까 싶다. “그 전엔 직권남용죄 처벌례가 거의 없었다”(우병우), “제 가족에게 무간지옥의 시련이 닥쳤다”(조국)며 비운(悲運)을 탓했다. 출마야 자유지만, 이들이 지휘한 숱한 수사에서 더 억울한 사람이 없었다고는 말하기 힘들 것 같다. 이미 양당이 둘의 귀환에 조심스러운 눈길을 보내고 있다.