Lee Hye-hoon, nominee for Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Budget, said on the 23rd that "the eldest son was admitted to Yonsei University through the social contributors track because his paternal grandfather was recognized as someone who brought honor to the nation."
The nominee responded this way during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee on the morning of the 23rd to a question from Rep. Choi Eun-seok of the People Power Party asking, "Is it true that your eldest son was admitted to Yonsei University through the multi-children track?"
This reversed what the nominee had previously told the confirmation hearing preparation team, that "the eldest son was admitted through the multi-children track." The nominee said, "I confused my eldest and second sons."
Addressing criticism that she used the career of her father-in-law, Kim Tae-ho, a former interior minister who served four terms in the National Assembly, to secure preferential admission for her eldest son to Yonsei University, the nominee said, "My father-in-law was awarded the Order of Service Merit, Blue Stripes, in recognition not of political achievements, but of various public merits from a lifetime of service as a public official," adding, "That met the eligibility requirements."
Rep. Choi said, "Can we say that the eldest son's grandfather receiving a medal means he enhanced Korea's national prestige?" adding, "Through this, the nominee is admitting to an illicit admission."
The lawmaker also pointed out that at the time the nominee's eldest son entered Yonsei University, his father had served as associate dean of academic affairs, calling it an "'dad chance' preferential admission."
In response, the nominee said it was "a rule established by the school."