Most of the Korean media report polls that state the majority of Koreans are opposed to the appointment of progressive law professor Cho Kuk as Minister of Justice.
Yet, on the Korean presidential website, the number of people supporting the petition asking Cho Kuk be appointed as Justice Minister totaled over 400,000. While the petition opposing the appointment had over 250,000 supporters. I think the large number of people opposed is due to the negative media on Cho Kuk for the past several weeks. Nothing about the good things he has done. You need to log in using Facebook or other social network site in order to support or register a petition.
From what I see on TV, it seems the rich and powerful conservatives in Korean are mounting an all out campaign against Cho Kuk who has promised to reform the justice system to stamp out abuses of power. They exaggerate small student demonstrations against Cho Kuk. I am pretty sure some conservatives persuaded some students to demonstrate. I am also pretty sure the majority of students are in favor of Cho Kuk, but not his daughter, at the moment. Due to allegations of the daughter receiving favoritism in getting named in research papers which allegedly played a part in her getting accepted to medical school. She attended private school and had a privileged upbringing which makes her pretty unpopular with students, at the moment. Things are pretty bleak for Korean students with very high unemployment in Korea which I am pretty sure is due to the previous conservative administrations which focused on self-enrichment and suppression of liberal and progressive ideals and people for a decade and has opposed every reform proposed by progressive administrations by blocking and boycotting legislation. People are sick of this. At least, I am.
I hope he does become the minister of justice. Korea desperately needs to reform its justice system to stop abuses by powerful individuals.
