Allegations have been raised that Lee Hye-hoon, the nominee for Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Budget, abused power against a pregnant district council member in the constituency when serving as a People Power Party district chapter head.
People Power Party Seoul Jung District Council member Son Ju-ha held a press conference at the National Assembly press center on Jan. 5 and said of the nominee, "Our Jung District and Seongdong District B area was thoroughly gaslighted by former district chapter head Lee Hye-hoon for a year and a half and was eventually abandoned," adding, "I was harassed even while pregnant."
According to Council member Son, when the nominee, who ran in the April 2024 general election, tried to bring an inappropriate figure into the campaign, three people including Son raised the issue, but instead the three were excluded during the general election process and were even referred to the party's ethics committee over the matter.
Son said, "It is a time when even small stress must be handled with great care, so I tried not to pay much attention, thinking it would end with clarifying the falsehoods," adding, "Using the power of a district chapter head to induce even false testimony, this Minister nominee deceived the People Power Party central party and showed off power, and in the end, the parties involved, including me, who were referred to the ethics committee, received a heavy penalty of a two-month suspension of party membership."
Son also claimed that the nominee shielded a district council member with a record of making sexually harassing and misogynistic remarks to a fellow female council member in the Jung District Council, asking the council chair to look kindly on the disciplinary matter simply because that council member treated the nominee well.
Son said, "Being fixated on the title of Minister, are you not ashamed before the public of the actions you committed in the past? And do you not realize that you overlooked your own lack of qualifications?" Son continued, "The Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Budget is not a position to maintain the power of a particular individual, but one that must realize public value based on principle and responsibility." Son added, "On these issues, the nominee must provide a clear and accountable explanation to the public," and, "Before entrusting greater public authority, it is time for everyone to soberly judge whether such conduct can be tolerated."