(LEAD) Moon delays appointment of new ministers to get opposition support

(ATTN: ADDS photo, more info in last three paras)

SEOUL, July 11 (Yonhap) -- President Moon Jae-in delayed his appointment of two ministers opposed by opposition parties for last-minute efforts to win their support and also help normalize the parliament crippled partly by the proposed appointments, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday.

The decision followed a request from the ruling Democratic Party, whose floor leader Woo Won-shik stressed the importance of the opposition's support for many pending issues, including the government-requested supplementary budget.

"President Moon decided to accept the party's sincere request," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun told a press briefing.

The spokesman did not specify how long the appointment will be delayed.

"During this period, the government will work to thoroughly explain to the opposition parties about the current situation where the new Moon Jae-in administration is unable to form its first Cabinet over two months after its launch," he said.

The two new minister nominees currently objected to by the opposition parties are Defense Minister nominee Song Young-moo and Labor Minister nominee Cho Dae-yop.

Opposition parties criticized that Moon is using a ploy to stall for time, demanding that he withdraw their nominations.

"(The delay) appears aimed at firstly checking how the opposition parties would react and secondly gauging public sentiment," Chung Woo-taik, the floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, said during a meeting with senior party members.

Kim Dong-cheol, the whip of the minor People's Party, called the delay a "quick-fix solution." Kim, in particular, pressured Moon to explain why he has failed to deliver on his campaign pledge to exclude anyone involved in five kinds of irregularities, including plagiarism and tax evasion from senior public posts.

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