Exclusive: Candidate for Truth and Reconciliation Commission post fails presidential vetting

Nam Kyung-kook, a candidate to lead the administrative office of South Korea’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, failed the presidential office’s personnel vetting and was dropped from consideration.

The nomination had been approved as an agenda item at the commission’s first plenary session of its third term on July 3. Nam, who heads the Nam Kyung-kook Constitutional Law Research Institute, did not pass the competency assessment during the vetting process, according to accounts compiled from reporting. He acknowledged the result in a telephone conversation.

The secretary-general is a senior civil service position responsible for overseeing the commission’s administrative operations. Some commissioners had already urged the plenary session to reconsider the request to appoint Nam, citing his lack of organizational management experience.