The People Power Party asked to postpone the confirmation hearing for Minister of Planning and Budget nominee Lee Hye-hoon, saying the nominee and family, who are engulfed in various allegations, are refusing to submit proper documents.
Lawmakers on the People Power Party's Strategy and Finance Committee held a press conference at the National Assembly on the 15th, saying, "Nominee Lee Hye-hoon is deceiving the people of Korea and the National Assembly with shoddy, hollow materials," and, "Not only the nominee but also the spouse and three sons are at the center of various suspicions, yet all submissions of key materials are being refused on the grounds of 'non-consent to provide personal information.'"
According to lawmakers on the People Power Party's Strategy and Finance Committee, the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee processed the confirmation hearing plan for the nominee on the 12th and requested submission of 2,187 documents from a total of 82 institutions by 5 p.m. on the 15th. At the time, the ruling and opposition parties also agreed that if materials related to the nominee's numerous suspicions were not properly submitted, the hearing schedule could be postponed.
By 5 p.m. that day, only 748 documents from 53 institutions had actually been submitted among the materials related to the nominee. Of these, more than half, or 415, were effectively hollow due to non-consent to personal information provision, the People Power Party said.
People Power Party lawmakers said, "Out of 2,187 requests, the actual submission rate is barely 15%," adding, "For materials related to suspicions that raise widespread public doubts or could work unfavorably, the nominee refused submission in all cases, citing 'non-consent to provide personal information.'"
Representative items refused were materials related to the spouse's and sons' military service. The People Power Party said, "We cannot know whether the eldest son properly served, why the second and third sons, who were social service agents, worked at duty stations near home and what they did there, or whether there were any favors."
In the case of the third son, who performed social service at the Bangbae Police Station, there were disciplinary suspicions because service continued five days beyond the set discharge date, but the Korean National Police Agency refused to disclose the reason.
The National Tax Service's gift tax payment records and certificates needed to clarify suspicions of gift tax evasion by the nominee, spouse, and three sons, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) materials related to the illegal subscription to the "lottery $10 billion apartment," were also refused. Data were not submitted for the purchase amount of land on Yeongjongdo, the three sons' tuition and scholarship receipt records, the nominee family's bank deposit and withdrawal records, petitions and complaints filed with the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, the Board of Audit and Inspection, and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and whether there was drunk driving.
People Power Party lawmakers noted, "Since the nominee was named on the 28th of last month to today, there have been nearly 80 exclusive reports by media outlets related to all kinds of suspicions," and pointed out, "From power abuse to land speculation, gift tax evasion, and illegal subscriptions, as many as four new suspicions have surfaced in a single day."
They continued, "The People Power Party's Strategy and Finance Committee urges the ruling party to postpone the confirmation hearing scheduled for the 19th," adding, "Despite public suspicions and anger, the People Power Party will not tolerate the shameless stance of the nominee, who is making 'non-consent to provide personal information' an excuse just to endure the one-day hearing on the 19th."