By Kang Hyun-kyung, Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporters
Lawmakers of the governing and opposition parties grilled Yu In-chon, the nominee for minister of culture and tourism, over the accumulation of his wealth, Wednesday.
Yu answered that he earned the money through 35 years of acting, and modeling in several different television commercials.
The nominee's reported financial value is more than 14 billion won, the highest among 14 Cabinet nominees. His wife was reported to have several different savings accounts holding a total of over 5 billion won.
Apparently mindful of possible adverse influence of the allegations on the April parliamentary elections, lawmakers of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) were as aggressive toward Yu as those of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) at a National Assembly confirmation hearing.
GNP lawmakers doggedly asked Yu to explain the details of his wealth.
The nominee said the savings were created through a snowball effect after his wife asked fund managers at a securities company to take care of their money.
The GNP lawmaker's questions were unfamiliar to Yu, mainly because he hadn't been a target of UDP legislators for property speculation or troubled ethics.
Some GNP lawmakers called Yu a ``politainer,'' a politician whose career background is in the entertainment industry.
Rep. Lee Jae-woong advised the nominee to listen carefully to what opposition party lawmakers said because the actor-turned-Cabinet nominee would need to work hard to catch up with demanding ministry affairs.
There are growing concerns among GNP lawmakers that they could become losers in the April 9 elections because of President Lee Myung-bak's choices of some Cabinet ministers. Lee was elected president in December on the GNP's ticket
Rep. Chung Doo-un, the right-hand man of President Lee, said, ``Public opinion is shifting from the sweeping mood in favor of the GNP to anti-GNP (because of the troubled nominations).''
In an essay posted on his blog, Chung said people tend to withdraw support quickly once they feel the person in power is arrogant.
``My popularity was merely 14 percent while his opponent's was as high as 54 percent during the 2004 parliamentary elections,'' he said.
``But I won the election anyway. This indicates that public opinion is always volatile,'' Chung concluded.
A growing number of GNP lawmakers have asked President Lee to withdraw some of the nominations for his first Cabinet.
They appeared on the defensive against allegations made by UDP lawmakers regarding property speculation by some Cabinet minister-nominees, saying the suspicions were not proven.
Among themselves, however, the GNP was simmering.
Health and Welfare Minister-designate Kim Soung-yee became a new target of UDP lawmakers as he allegedly played a role in the administration of former President Chun Doo-hwan, a former Army general who took power in a military coup in 1980.
GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won told reporters the GNP lawmakers would not tolerate illicit deals or career fabrication at the hearings which end today.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly failed to hold confirmation hearings on two Cabinet minister-nominees Wednesday as the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) boycotted them.
The UDP opposes the appointment of Park Eun-kyung as environment minister and Nam Joo-hong as unification minister, claiming they lack the moral qualifications.
It lambasted Nam for his daughter's U.S. citizenship and his antagonistic sentiments toward the ``sunshine" policy of engaging North Korea.
Nam, a political science professor of Kyonggi University in Seoul, held that the nation should balance North Korea policy between unification and security, criticizing former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.
The UDP also said the nominee evaded education taxes worth 45 million won and exaggerated that he had published 100 academic papers over 10 years.
It pointed out he issued nine if duplicated journals are not counted.
``Despite those problems, Nam has never apologized to the people. He should give up his candidacy immediately because he is not even eligible to enter the confirmation hearing room,'' UDP vice spokesman Kim Hyun said.
Park is under fire for possible property speculation.
According to reports, the nominee, a well-known environmental and women's rights activist, owns three houses and purchased land in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, which only farmers were allowed to buy.
Property prices have soared in recent years due to government-led development projects in the areas.
As UDP lawmakers refused to attend the confirmation hearing to examine her qualifications, the hearings ended after legislators questioned Labor Minister-designate Lee Young-hee.
Park, the only female Cabinet nominee, is a member of the Green Committee of Seoul City and contributed to the creation of Seoul Forest with President Lee while he served as mayor of the capital.
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) has said that the UDP is trying to prevent the new government from managing state affairs.