Oceans ministry falls victim to politics, again

Was the minister's resignation the best way to shield the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries from the fallout over allegations that he accepted bribes from the Unification Church? After Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo offered to resign Thursday, which the presidential office accepted, the ministry was left baffled by an unexpected leadership vacuum in the middle of its relocation from Sejong to Busan. Senior ministry officials told reporters they did not expect him to step down so soon. The bribery allegations surfaced earlier this week while he was in New York attending a United Nations meeting to officially designate Korea as a co-host of the 2028 U.N. Ocean Conference. Chun, a three-term lawmaker representing a Busan district, had been leading the ministry's relocation effort. Denying the allegations as baseless, he said he resigned to ensure policy consistency in the maritime sector. Although the ministry also denied any disruption to its relocation plans, Chun's abrupt resignation has raised concerns about the government's push to turn Korea’s second-largest city into a hub for the mar