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| Education Minister Nominee Yoo Eun-hae answers questions from lawmakers during her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, Wednesday. / Yonhap |
By Kim Jae-heun
New education minister nominee Yoo Eun-hae faced fierce questioning from lawmakers over various corruption allegations during her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, Wednesday.
Some lawmakers said her alleged illegal acts were so serious they could disqualify her from the position.
According to the Rep. Kwak Sang-do of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), Yoo abused her power by opening an office in the building of an organization under her supervision.
In 2016, Yoo was a member of the Assembly's education and culture committee, and she opened an office in a public facility owned by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation's (KSPO) subsidiary. She used the office for her campaign for the general election that year and is still using it.
Six foundation officials, who were in charge of making the lease contracts at the time, were punished for violating the foundation's leasing guidelines. The foundation requested the cancelation of the contract, but Yoo has failed to provide answers for two years.
The nominee denied that she received any favors for opening the office there, adding she conducted supervision of the foundation fairly. But she said she would move out of the location as soon as possible due to public criticism.
The minister nominee also allegedly registered her daughter's home address falsely to send her to an elite school. She said her daughter wanted to go to the school where her close friends from her kindergarten would attend, saying there was no other reason such as property speculation.
The lawmakers pointed out that the false residence registration for education purposes was inappropriate considering she was nominated as the nation's top education policymaker. "I regret it sincerely and I apologize," Yoo said.
That Yoo hired an employee from her husband's company as her secretary was another issue at the center of the criticism. The secretary position is a low-ranking civil service job. She said they failed to recognize it as a problem for him to hold more than one job.
"My administrative assistant quit her job in 2013 and I decided to hire him. Since he has come to my office, I did not conduct any business with my husband's company," Yoo said.
Yoo's son's exemption from military service was also discussed, but she said her son underwent surgery for a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament he sustained while practicing judo in 2011 and then damaged the same ligament while playing soccer in 2014.
From these various suspicions, she became the first minister nominee to meet with the people's petition to withdraw her nomination. Over 63,000 people signed up for the request on Cheong Wa Dae's website.
Meanwhile, Yoo pledged to reduce the burden of parents for educational spending. She said she will expand the nation's investment in education to grant free education for young people and make sure universities do not raise their tuition fees.
