Minister nominees embroiled in controversies

Health and Welfare Minister nominee Chung Ho-young answers reporters' questions from the office of the preparation team for his National Assembly hearing, set up in Seoul's Seodaemun District, Friday. Joint Press Corps

Some under siege for past columns

By Jung Da-min

Nominees for the cabinet of the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration are facing mounting allegations of corruption and questions over their qualifications, portending bumpy rides at their National Assembly confirmation hearings.

As of Thursday, the president-elect wrapped up the nominations for his Cabinet, including of the prime minister and 18 ministers.

Chung Ho-young, the nominee to lead the Ministry of Health and Welfare, is facing snowballing allegations that he used his influence when he was the head of the Kyungpook National University Hospital to help his daughter and son transfer to Kyungpook National University School of Medicine in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Chung took office as the hospital chief in August 2017 after being deputy chief from 2015 to 2016.

According to the medical school's transfer data acquired by the office of Rep. Kim Won-i of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Friday, Chung's son transferred through a "preferential transfer" process along with 16 other applicants in 2018. Chung's son was the only applicant from within Kyungpook National University, while the others were all from universities in other regions. The preferential transfer process was newly introduced that year for students who graduated from high schools or studied at universities in Daegu or North Gyeongsang Province.

To prove that he was qualified, he presented two academic articles in electrical engineering that listed him as a co-author. But critics cast doubt as to the authenticity of his authorship because he was the only undergraduate among the other co-authors who were professors, masters or doctoral students.

Earlier in 2017, Chung's daughter also transferred to the medical school through the college transfer system. She was the only applicant to receive a perfect score in one section of the oral portion of the exam.

Her volunteer activity records, which were screened in the application process, also raised questions. She claimed to have taken part in volunteer activities such as transporting patients at Kyungpook National University Hospital in January and July 2016, just a few months before submitting her application for transfer. Chung's son also claimed to have taken part in similar volunteer activities at the same university hospital in January 2015, January 2016 and July 2016.

The allegations surrounding Chung's children's transfers to the medical school are similar to those surrounding former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's daughter having received offers of admissions to Korea University and Pusan National University School of Medicine based on falsified documents. The admissions offers were retroactively revoked recently.

Meanwhile, other minister nominees named by the president-elect are facing other corruption allegations and criticism.

Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo answers reporters at the office of the preparation team for his National Assembly hearing, set up in Seoul's Jongno District, Friday. Joint Press Corps

As for prime minister nominee Han Duck-soo, he is being denounced for his wife's asset increase of about 1.2 billion won ($980,000) over the past decade, during which time, she was a full-time housewife.

According to media reports, one painting she made was sold to Hyosung Group for 16 million won, while three were sold to Booyoung Group for 23 million won. Yet, how her wealth increased to 1.2 billion won between 2012 and 2022 while stating her profession as a "housewife," is unclear.

The National Assembly hearing for Han's nomination will be held on April 25 and 26, based on Friday's agreement between the DPK and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), and will be followed by hearings for the other nominees.

Justice Minister nominee Han Dong-hoon speaks to reporters at the office of the preparation team for his National Assembly hearing, set up in Seoul High Prosecutors' Office in Seocho District, Friday. Yonhap

Yoon's nomination of one of his closest aides, senior prosecutor Han Dong-hoon, as the justice minister is similarly embroiled in a heated controversy.

Critics have said Han only has experience carrying out investigations and planning as a prosecutor, while lacking expertise in judicial affairs administration. Moreover, they raised concerns that Yoon naming one of his closest aides to a major judiciary position would hurt the separation of powers between the presidential office and the prosecution.

There are concerns over some other minister nominees as well, related to their past inappropriate comments as high-ranking official candidates.

Lee Chang-yang, the nominee to lead the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said in a 2010 media column that introducing a "fine" to punish couples who do not have children despite their financial stability could be a policy measure to counter Korea's low birthrate. While critics accused him of viewing humans as procreation machines, Lee argued that he was just introducing a policy alternative from an economist's approach.

Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Kim Hyun-sook said in a 2021 media column that the Moon Jae-in administration had increased the gender budget so much that it was at a similar level as the national defense budget. But critics said the point of the gender budget category is to ensure that public funds are being used properly in terms of gender equality, meaning that many different budgets directly or indirectly related to gender equality are included within the overall category of the gender budget.

Health minister nominee Chung Ho-young also wrote in a 2012 column that giving birth is an "act of patriotism," which critics see as a distorted way of blaming women for social problems stemming from Korea's chronically low birthrate.