President Lee Jae-myung withdrew the nomination of Lee Jin-sook, the candidate for Minister of Education, amid allegations of 'thesis plagiarism.' Kang Sun-woo, the candidate for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, who faced the possibility of withdrawing due to allegations of 'abuse of power' by aides, is expected to be appointed as is.
Woo Sang-ho, the chief of staff for political affairs at the Presidential Office, held a briefing on the afternoon of the 20th at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul, stating, “The president has been listening to various opinions and has been deeply contemplating.” He added, “As a result of this contemplation, it was decided to withdraw the nomination of Lee Jin-sook for Minister of Education.”
He continued, “The president met yesterday (19th) with Kim Byung-ki, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Song Eon-seok, the chairman of the People Power Party's emergency response committee, to listen to various opinions.” He noted, “I ask the National Assembly to respect the views of the president, who holds the authority over appointments, and to proceed with follow-up measures.”
The candidate stated amid the confirmation hearing, regarding the allegations of 'thesis plagiarism' and 'early study abroad for children,' “I sincerely apologize for the issues raised as they do not align with the expectations of the people.” However, there has been controversy over how the staff from the Ministry of Education's preparation team handed notes to this candidate, suggesting, 'Lie' and 'give irrelevant answers.'
Chief of Staff Woo noted, “After clarifying the issues that arose during the confirmation hearing and analyzing public sentiment, I reported this to the president.” He added, “I ask the people to understand that this decision was made based on various developments.”
President Lee plans to proceed with the appointment of Kang Sun-woo, the candidate facing allegations of 'abuse of assistants.' Chief of Staff Woo responded to the question, 'Should we consider Kang as being appointed?' by stating, “Yes. Only the nomination of Lee Jin-sook has been withdrawn among the 11 candidates who have not yet been appointed.”
When asked, “Is the fact that only Lee's nomination was withdrawn because Kang is an incumbent lawmaker?” he replied, “I clearly confirm that whether a candidate is a lawmaker or not was not a major consideration regarding the candidate’s position as minister.”
As questions about the candidate Kang continued, Chief of Staff Woo emphasized, “The person with the power of appointment does not provide detailed reasons to the chief of staff but listens and conveys the final decision.” He stated, “After a day of deep contemplation, the president conveyed the final decision for the announcement.”