By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The liberal United Democratic Party (UDP) urged President-elect Lee Myung-bak to replace several Cabinet nominees whose integrity it questioned due to their ``questionable wealth accumulation.''
It threatened to boycott hearings for at least two nominees, Lee Choon-ho of Minister of Gender Equality and Family Affairs and Nam Ju-hong of the Ministry of Unification.
Lee owns 40 properties across the country, the party said, while disparaging Nam for his alleged Cold War mentality. Nam has long advocated abandoning the Sunshine Policy of engaging North Korea. The engagement policy is a key policy of the UDP.
The parliamentary hearings to confirm 15 Cabinet nominees are scheduled to take place next Wednesday and Thursday. President-elect Lee is to take office Monday.
Rep. Joo Ho-young, a spokesman for the President-elect, claimed that the nominees' possession of considerable assets is not a problem.
The transition team had thoroughly reviewed their status and asset accumulation process before the nominations and found no problem, Joo said.
He said there would be few problems with the Cabinet nominees in the hearings as long as they accumulated wealth through hard work.
``If there had been any illegal activities in their assets accumulation, they should take responsibility,'' he added.
Lee's inner circle members are derided as members of the SKY S-Line Club, referring to Somang Churchgoers, Korea University graduates, and those from the southeastern Yeongnam region as well as Seoul City officials at the time of Lee's term as mayor.
UDP spokesman Woo Sang-ho attacked the President-elect and his nominees. ``The average wealth of the Cabinet nominees is 3.8 billion won (about $4 million) and they own three or four properties on average,'' he said, citing documents submitted by the nominees.
``One of them has 40 separate pieces of real estate,'' Woo said, apparently referring to Lee Choon-ho, currently vice chairwoman of the Korea Freedom League.
Lee has 40 separate plots of land in 12 different cities and the combined value of her wealth is more than 45 billion won.
Facing the property speculation allegation, nominee Lee said she inherited the estate from her late husband.
Environment Minister-nominee Park Eun-kyung was also under fire for possible property speculation.
According to reports, she purchased land in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, in 1998. The property price has soared in recent years thanks to the government-led development projects.
The richest nominee is Yu In-chon, who was named to lead the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, with assets wealth of more than 140 billion won.
During a two-day parliamentary hearing on Prime minister-nominee Han from Feb. 20-21, UDP lawmakers alleged that Han's family was involved in tax evasion, property speculation and other illicit financial activities in the past.
``Many UDP lawmakers are questioning if we should agree to Han's nomination,'' Woo said.
Woo indicated that there is room for the UDP's disapproval of the nomination up to the last minute.
The National Assembly is scheduled to vote on Han's nomination Tuesday, one day after the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration. If Han's nomination fails to get Assembly approval, the inauguration of Lee's first Cabinet might be delayed, causing a power vacuum.