Cheong Wa Dae slammed for lax screening of candidates

Constitutional Court Justice Nominee Lee Mi-sun speaks during a hearing at the National Assembly, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Park Ji-won

Cheong Wa Dae has come under growing criticism for poor screening of presidential nominees for key posts after Constitutional Court Justice Nominee Lee Mi-sun and her husband were found to have regularly engaged in stock trading for many years.

The latest case raises doubts over the presidential office's standards for choosing nominees, after two Cabinet minister nominees quit over alleged ethical lapses following confirmation hearings.

Lawmakers from the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and the Bareunmirae Party (BMP) called for President Moon Jae-in's apology regarding these cases, urging senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk to step down.

“It is highly regrettable to see all these unqualified nominees. We ask Moon to apologize, and sack the people who recommended them,” BMP lawmaker Oh Shin-hwan told reporters.

In a confirmation hearing, Wednesday, Lee was grilled about her very lucrative stock trading activities while serving as a judge. Lee insisted her husband traded stocks using her account.

Earlier, Moon pushed ahead on Monday with the appointment of two ministers despite strong objections from the opposition parties.

“Lee and her husband own stocks worth 3.54 billion won which take up about 83 percent of their assets totaling 4.3 billion won. Out of this, Lee owns stocks worth 660 million won. Still, Lee said she was not involved in the stock investment and it was conducted by her husband. It is irresponsible for her to say so,” Rep. Kim Do-eup of the LKP said.

“To this end, all lawmakers from the LKP and the BMP on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee consider Lee unqualified to be a constitutional court judge and urge Lee to step down voluntarily,” Lee added.

Kim added that the related lawmakers of the committee agreed not to hold committee meetings for a few days and wait for her to resign or for Moon's cancellation of her nomination.

Oh, meanwhile, raised an allegation that Lee's husband used confidential internal information to buy stocks and said the BMP and the LKP are planning to ask for the Financial Services Commission to investigate him.

Adding to the two parties, the progressive Justice Party also criticized her ethical lapse as a judge and called for her resignation or Moon's withdrawal of her nomination.

“It is obvious she didn't devote herself to her job while buying this large amount of stocks,” Justice Party spokeswoman Jung Ho-jin said in a statement.

Citing the criticism against her that “a judge is her second job to her work as a stock trader,” Jung said “It is important to take into account her opinions and decisions in court made in the past. But it is also important to meet the people's expectation of ethical standards.”

Lee is serving as a judge at the Seoul Central District Court and has expertise in labor law. She is assessed as having protected the rights of the weak.

It is unknown whether she would resign from the post. Some say as she may resign, as a former Constitutional Court justice nominee had resigned in September 2017 with similar allegations amid growing controversy over her dubious equity investments.

Lee You-jung, an attorney and law professor, had faced scrutiny over her recent stock investments, which earned her 1.2 billion won ($1.08 million) over 18 months. Records show she reaped 570 million won by trading shares in a company that was a client of her law firm.

However, some say people should wait and see until concrete evidence is found to support the allegations against the couple.