Jung Chung-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea carried out the final party staff appointments on the 22nd ahead of running for the next party leader. It was confirmed that all heads of key departments—organization, strategy, and general affairs—were kept in their posts. Inside and outside the Democratic Party, some noted that this runs counter to the practice in which an outgoing party leader refrains from personnel moves to respect the next leader's appointment powers. Since the heads of the organization, strategy, and general affairs departments who were retained were appointed earlier by Jung, some are saying it is "taking care of one's own people."
According to the Democratic Party and political circles on the 23rd, the party issued staff appointments the previous day under the name of Secretary-General Jo Seoung-lae. Dozens of central party staffers of the Democratic Party will be transferred or promoted effective July 1.
At every round of staff appointments, attention focuses on the heads of the central party's key posts: the organization, strategy, and general affairs bureaus. In this round, both directors of the general affairs coordination bureau were kept in place. The strategy and planning director and the organization director were also retained. All of them were department heads appointed after Jung took office.
At the national convention scheduled for August, competition is expected to be intense as, in addition to Jung, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and lawmaker Song Young-gil are set to run for party leader. In this situation, some say the very act of Jung carrying out staff appointments right before stepping down is a problem. A Democratic Party official said, "The issue is not a particular department or person, but that staff appointments, which should be left to the next leader, were made."
In response, the Democratic Party says there is no issue with the timing because party rules stipulate that staff appointments are conducted every May. However, last year, when there was a by-election for party leader, staff appointments were made after Jung was elected. The appointments were delayed so the next leader could make them.
A Democratic Party official said, "This round of appointments was carried out according to principle." The official added, "There are cases where even heads of key departments are retained regardless of ties to the party leader," and said, "Even if the party leader changes, one-off, targeted appointments for specific staffers are possible as needed."
Jung Chung-rae is expected to resign as early as the 24th.