It is known that President Lee Jae-myung, who ran in the Busan Buk-gap parliamentary by-election held alongside the June 3 local elections and lost, is being strongly considered for appointment as the full-time vice chair of the presidential National AI Strategy Committee. The People Power Party escalated its response, calling it a revolving-door appointment by the Lee Jae-myung administration and an overt disregard for public sentiment.
To run in the by-election, former senior secretary Ha stepped down from the Blue House senior secretary for AI future planning post in April after a little over 10 months and ran in Busan Buk-gap, but lost to lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, finishing second. Still, as the possibility is raised that former senior secretary Ha could return as the full-time vice chair of the presidential National AI Strategy Committee, interest continues inside and outside political circles.
The full-time vice chair post of the presidential National AI Strategy Committee, now mentioning former senior secretary Ha's name, was most recently held by Democratic Party lawmaker Im Moon-young, who won the Gwangju Gwangsan-eul by-election.
The People Power Party launched a fierce critique at the news of former senior secretary Ha's return. On the 20th, chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon issued a commentary, saying, "The president's 'revolving-door appointments' are once again mocking common sense and trampling squarely on public sentiment." He said seeking to reinstate Ha as full-time vice chair of the presidential National AI Strategy Committee barely a fortnight after losing the by-election runs counter to public sentiment.
Park, the chief spokesperson, added, "The very idea of seating someone who failed to win the people's choice back into a core post directly under the president as if nothing happened is shocking," and asked, "Are elections a career management program for the president's close aides?"
Park also said, "Even within the Democratic Party, criticisms are emerging such as 'Are there really so few AI experts?' and 'A return immediately after a loss does not look good,'" adding, "It cannot avoid criticism that this is a private appointment for power, not an appointment for the nation."