The People Power Party raised an additional allegation of military service favoritism involving the son of Lee Hye-hoon, the nominee for Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Budget. It also brought up alleged hiring favoritism, criticizing, "This nominee is the ultimate ineligibility for public office."
Rep. Park Soo-young of the People Power Party, the opposition secretary of the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee, said on the 11th on Facebook that the nominee's second and third sons served as social service personnel near their home, and that because the two sons were the first social service personnel received by the respective institutions, military service favoritism is suspected.
Park said, "The second son (of the nominee) performed social service at a Seocho-gu community child center 7 kilometers from home for two years starting in March 2014," adding, "According to Military Manpower Administration records, that center first received social service personnel in 2014, when the second son worked there. The nominee's second son was the first social service worker at that nearby center."
He continued, "The third son (of the nominee) served from January 2019 to December 2020, living a 'job-home proximity' social service life just 2.5 kilometers from home," and said, "Looking at the Military Manpower Administration's records for the past 10 years, Bangbae Police Station accepted social service personnel only for exactly three years, from 2019, when the third son began service, to 2021."
Park said, "The nominee has not provided any materials or grounds explaining why the two sons did social service or what duties they performed," stressing, "Either resign voluntarily, or, if not, disclose all materials related to the sons' military service in full and explain the suspicions to the public."
In response, the nominee said, "Including the eldest son's active-duty service, all three sons faithfully fulfilled their military duty," adding, "There is nothing illegal or improper." The nominee added, "The eldest and second sons renounced U.S. citizenship and completed their military service."
Earlier, Rep. Cheon Ha-ram of the Reform Party on the Strategy and Finance Committee raised a suspicion that when the nominee's eldest son applied in Oct. 2022 to be an associate research fellow at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), he listed on his résumé a paper for which the nominee's spouse, Kim Young-se, a professor in the Department of Economics at Yonsei University, was the corresponding author. At the time, the KIEP president and vice president were known to be alumni of the Seoul National University Department of Economics with the nominee, prompting "hiring favoritism" allegations.
On the same day, Chief Spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon of the same party said in a commentary, "It has emerged that the nominee's spouse was listed as a co-author. There are allegations that a 'parental chance' was used," adding, "The nominee is the ultimate ineligibility for public office. The presidential office should not drag its feet but state a clear position before the public."