Upon returning from a 12-day four-nation South American tour Monday, President Park Geun-hye accepted Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo’s resignation, offered on April 20 amid a growing bribery scandal in which he is implicated.

Earlier in the day, the Blue House announced that the doctors had diagnosed Park with gastric spasm and pharyngitis and prescribed complete bed rest for 1-2 days. However, acting on Lee’s resignation was a pressing matter that could not be delayed much longer, especially in light of Wednesday’s by-elections.

With Lee’s resignation official, Park should start the process of looking for his successor. Even if things go smoothly, it could take at least a month before a new prime minister is appointed.

Having nominated five people for the office of prime minister since coming into office in February 2013, the exercise must be a frustrating one for Park. Three nominees did not get past the parliamentary hearings and Lee barely passed but went on to earn the ignominy of being one of the shortest serving prime ministers in history.

If Park has not learnt anything from the past failures in selecting prime minister nominees, finding the next premier will prove to be an arduous, uphill task. The public has had enough of seeing the nominees being grilled about their qualifications, ethical lapses or questionable perspectives on history. They deserve to see someone qualified for the office, a person who is not saddled with doubts about his or her ethics.

Park’s trouble with personnel appointment, which has become a chronic problem of her administration, is often blamed on her “notebook.” The “notebook” has become a catch-all word for Park’s inability or unwillingness to cast her net wider beyond those whose names appear in her little notebook when making appointments.

To recruit the best possible person to fill the many government positions, including that of the office of the prime minister, Park should be open to working with people who may not be familiar to her. She should be willing to work with people who may hold different opinions and should seek those who can disagree with her. The last thing she needs right now is a sycophant or a subservient official.

Just as the search for a new prime minister should start promptly, Park should not delay in apologizing to the people for the political bribery scandal in which many of her close aides are implicated. Needless to say, that apology should be unqualified and sincere; anything less might backfire with the people.