Cho Hyun, the Minister of Foreign Affairs nominee, stated regarding the election fraud claims made by Tan (Korean name: Dan Hyun-myung), a professor at Liberty University in the U.S. (former U.S. ambassador for International Criminal Law), that "such acts seem to incite with false information or fake news, which I believe cannot be tolerated in any case."
In a National Assembly confirmation hearing on the 17th, Cho responded to a remark from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Hong Gi-won, who pointed out that "the professor's claims of disseminating false information about President Lee Jae-myung and alleging election fraud go against domestic laws that restrict the political activities of foreigners."
Cho added, "It is also hard to accept that a foreigner who cannot engage in domestic political activities comes to Korea to do such things," and stated that "I believe we must have proper discussions with the relevant agencies and respond appropriately."
He further described Tan's claims of election fraud as "ridiculously absurd" and noted, "As far as I know, U.S. government officials have a clear stance that such narratives should not damage the Korea-U.S. relationship and are communicating with us on this matter."
Tan, who served as the ambassador for International Criminal Law at the State Department during Donald Trump's first administration, recently entered Korea and has been making claims that fraud took place in the elections or that President Lee Jae-myung was involved in serious crimes during his youth. He has been reported by domestic civic groups for defamation based on the dissemination of false information, and the police have initiated an investigation.
Tan also stated during a recent meeting hosted by a conservative group that he was included in the list of candidates for the not-yet-appointed U.S. ambassador to Korea.
Cho responded to a remark by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Han Jeong-ae, who pointed out that Japan is not keeping its promise while registering sites of forced mobilization of Koreans, such as Sado Mine and Hashima Island, as UNESCO World Heritage sites, saying, "I believe it is impossible to tie up past issues with Japan," and added that "if we reach an agreement too easily, Japan will later accuse us of moving the goalposts."
He continued, saying, "I don't think that expressing our wishes to Japan or strongly urging anything will change much," and noted, "We should patiently and steadily raise these issues bilaterally and multilaterally, hoping that Japan will gradually change on its own."
Cho indicated that regarding the structures unilaterally installed by China in the West Sea, which they claim are fishery facilities, it is a "serious issue between Korea and China," and expressed, "I believe we must take strategic responses and, if necessary, adopt very strong measures."
He also mentioned concerning measures for proportional responses as we install structures that "such options should be included and comprehensively reviewed."
In response to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Yong-won regarding the provision of defensive weapons to Ukraine, he stated, "For now, we have maintained the principle of not providing offensive lethal weapons," adding that "we need to make decisions in consultation with the Ministry of National Defense, taking a comprehensive look at the situations of surrounding countries like the U.S., Europe, and Japan, which are in similar situations."