A senior presidential aide said Monday he believes the leadership of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s support for Gender Minister nominee Kang Sun-woo heavily influenced President Lee Jae Myung’s decision to push forward with the appointment process.
The remarks came a day after Lee decided to withdraw his nomination to head the Education Ministry, Lee Jin-sook, who has been mired in an academic plagiarism scandal, while the president declined to do so for Kang. The two-term Democratic Party lawmaker and gender minister nominee has faced public flak over workplace abuse allegations involving former parliamentary aides.
“The decision was carried out after considering various factors,” Woo Sang-ho, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, said in a morning radio interview with Christian Broadcasting System. “But regarding (the nomination and appointment of) nominee Kang, it seems the opinions of the Democratic Party have most affected (President Lee’s current decision).”
Woo did not specify the opinions expressed by the ruling party leadership in their apparent backing of Kang. However, a day after Kang’s parliamentary confirmation hearing on July 14, Democratic Party Floor Leader Kim Byung-kee said that the nominee’s explanations for the allegations surrounding her were “sufficiently justified,” expressing regret over related criticisms.
The senior presidential aide also drew a line on the possibility of Lee Jae Myung withdrawing his nomination of Kang in the following days, saying related announcements had been made the previous day because the president has made up his mind. “The announcements were made yesterday because (President Lee) plans to appoint (Kang),” he said.
On Sunday, Woo confirmed Kang’s appointment in a press briefing. He replied “yes” to a reporter’s question asking if the presidential office’s move not to announced withdrawal of Kang translates into her eventual appointment as gender minister.
He explained that several allegations against Kang had been “resolved” during the nominee’s parliamentary confirmation hearing held last week. He added that Lee Jae Myung did not specifically explain his thoughts behind his latest decision to stick with Kang’s appointment, but expressed hopes that “the people would understand that multiple factors” were considered.
The president is expected to request the National Assembly reconsider and adopt Kang’s personnel hearing report in the following days. The rival parties last week failed to agree on the adoption of Kang’s personnel hearing report, which is a mandatory step in a Cabinet nomination. However, though Cabinet ministers are required to undergo a parliamentary confirmation hearing, their appointment by the president is not contingent on the Assembly's approval.
Kang was named as the nominee for gender minister by Lee Jae Myung on June 23, but has been since been accused of mistreating staff members at her legislative office in recent years.
Kang allegedly replaced staff members 46 times over just five years and made demands of them outside of their legislative support duties, such as asking them to fix her toilet, according to reports. The nominee has denied the allegations and claimed at the hearing that the figure was actually 27, not 46.
The scandal has sparked outrage from not only the main opposition People Power Party, but also the Korean Democratic Labor Party and the New Reform Party. Civic groups have denounced the allegations surrounding Kang as well.
People Power Party Floor Leader Song Eon-seog called Kang’s likely appointment “a declaration of war against the common sense of the people,” during the main opposition party’s Monday leadership meeting.
Meanwhile, Lee Jae Myung’s approval rating slid for the first time this week since his inauguration in early June, a Realmeter survey showed Monday. It slipped 2.4 percentage points to 62.2 percent from the previous week, after gaining for five consecutive weeks. Negative assessments inched up 2.3 percentage points to 32.3 percent in the same period.
The pollster cited controversies surrounding Kang and Lee Jin-sook’s ministerial nominations and confirmation hearings, damages and casualties from the recent heavy torrential rains and political turmoil stemming from widening special counsel probes into impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee as key reasons behind the drop in approval rating.
The survey involved 2,514 respondents aged 18 or older from Monday to Friday last week and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points, with a confidence rate of 95 percent.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
