South Korea’s Prime Minister and acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn decided to retain Yoo Il-ho as the country’s finance minister who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs to maintain economic policy continuity. The main opposition Minjoo Party agreed to Hwang’s decision after a fierce debate on who should command the control tower over the economy under multiple whammies.

The scandal-ridden president Park Geun-hye on November 2 named Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, the deputy prime minister and finance minister to replace Yoo. Since the president yielded cabinet appointment rights to the legislative, the National Assembly has kept debating whether to retain or replace Yoo, and finally decided to keep him in his post. The choice of Yim also raises questions of legitimacy as Park’s presidential duties and roles have been stripped after she was impeached by the opposition-dominant legislative.

“We decided to retain Yoo as the nation’s finance minister based on a conclusion that replacing him with Yim would send a wrong signal to the economy,” said Minjoo Party’s floor leader Woo Sang-ho on Tuesday. “We will work hard to eliminate uncertainties and normalize politics to help stabilize people’s livelihoods and push ahead with much-needed reforms,” he added.

An official from the prime minister’s office said on Monday that Hwang decided to retain Yoo on concerns for further uncertainty from a replacement at a delicate period. The presidential office said it supported the decision. “A leadership vacuum in the nation’s economic team would add confusions for public officials at a time when they urgently need to come up with measures to restore the sagging economy and to respond to the imminent U.S. interest rate hikes,” an official from the presidential office said.

By Nam Gi-hyun and Kang Gye-man

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