The National Assembly will hold a confirmation hearing for Choi Hwi-young, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Kim Yoon-deok, the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport nominee, on the 29th. The People Power Party has labeled the nominee Choi as a 'set of corruption' and is poised for his downfall. Kim, a current member of the National Assembly, is under suspicion for failing to report his assets during the process of supporting his child's apartment lease. The Democratic Party of Korea stated that there will be no further downfalls aside from the withdrawal of the nominations of former Minister of Education nominee Lee Jin-sook and former Minister of Gender Equality and Family nominee Kang Sun-woo, both of whom withdrew due to 'competence issues' and 'bullying allegations.'
As of the 27th, the appointment of ministers in the Lee Jae-myung government has been completed for 15 out of the total 19 ministries. Nominee Choi, a former journalist, previously worked at Naver and co-managed Noldu Universe. The People Power Party mentioned in a statement the day before that there were accusations against nominee Choi regarding ▲favoritism in employment and the illicit acquisition of permanent residency for his children ▲gift tax evasion and payment ▲real estate speculation, stating, 'We cannot entrust the national culture and arts policy to a person embodying a set of corruption.'
Nominee Choi is under suspicion of having secured a job for his daughter at a U.S. subsidiary of Naver, where he was a representative, to acquire her U.S. permanent residency. He also faces allegations of having downplayed the asset declaration for a piece of real estate worth over 1 billion won gifted to his son. It was reported that Choi donated a plot of land in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, to his son in 2021, declaring the property's value based on a publicly announced value that was one-twelfth of the actual purchase price.
Kim, regarded as a key pro-Lee Jae-myung figure within the party, is a three-term lawmaker who has served on the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee in the 19th and 21st National Assembly. He is accused of evading gift tax by fully supporting his daughter’s apartment lease of 650 million won.
It is difficult to avoid criticism that the nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who oversees real estate policy, providing full support for his child's lease while being implicated in gift tax allegations, is inconsistent with public sentiment. With the government previously implementing stringent policies, including limiting mortgage loans in the metropolitan area to 600 million won as part of the 6.27 real estate measures, it raises concerns that the head of the department responsible for these issues is facing allegations related to real estate.
On the other hand, the Democratic Party stated that the opposition's scrutiny and offensive against the ministerial nominee is 'disrupting the national administration' and warned of a strong confrontation. Acting party leader and floor leader Kim Byeong-ki said during the party's Supreme Council meeting on the 25th, 'The demand for withdrawal by the People Power Party seems not only to imply a charge of insurrection but also threatens the presidential election,' adding, 'We will not allow any attempts to hinder the departure of the Lee Jae-myung administration from now on.'