Minister nominee Lee Hye-hoon of the Ministry of Planning and Budget denied allegations about a memorandum bearing her name at a confirmation hearing on the 23rd, saying, "I did not write it."
At the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee this morning, nominee Lee, regarding the memorandum allegation raised by Reform Party lawmaker Cheon Ha-ram, said, "It is something in which someone mixed personal guesses and various rumors based on multiple schedules shared by all the office staff," adding, "There are many parts I do not agree with in the contents, and many parts are not true."
When Cheon, the lawmaker who raised the allegation, pressed, asking whether the memorandum could be disclosed to the public, nominee Lee said, "It is very hard to agree to being subjected to misunderstandings and suspicions over something I did not write."
The memorandum disclosed by Cheon is said to include indications of efforts to smooth over allegations that the nominee herself received money and valuables, content about relying on religion, and the drafting of a list of defeated lawmakers.
The issue of nominee Lee's irregular subscription to the Banpo One Pentas apartment in Seoul was also a major focus. In Jul. 2024, Lee applied for a 137-square-meter unit at Banpo One Pentas and won with 74 points. The sale price is 3.6 billion won, but the current market price alone reaches 9 billion won. Lee faces allegations that, during the subscription process, she kept her eldest son—who was already married—listed as unmarried and grouped in the same household to increase the number of dependents.
In connection with this, the hearing saw repeated requests to submit materials related to One Pentas. Cha Kyu-geun of the Rebuilding Korea Party said, "When asked to submit the eldest son's One Pentas access records, they were not submitted, and it was said that he mainly lived in Sejong and was not even registered at One Pentas," adding, "Material submission is necessary."
People Power Party lawmaker Choi Eun-seok also said, "By submitting materials on the One Pentas irregular subscription only to investigative authorities and not to the National Assembly, you are ignoring the National Assembly and mocking the people," and People Power Party lawmaker Park Sung-hoon said, "The crux is a violation of the Housing Act. We asked for explanatory materials on whether the eldest son actually lived at One Pentas, but no materials have been submitted."
Even ruling-party lawmaker Jeong Il-young of the Democratic Party of Korea said, "We requested the most basic application form for the One Pentas sale, but the response was that it could not be submitted because it was an online application," adding, "Even with an online application, the application information can be verified."
In response, nominee Lee said, "I will submit as much material as possible," adding, "Some places say records no longer exist because the retention period has passed, so we are doing our best."