The People Power Party on the 25th assessed President Lee Jae-myung's withdrawal of the nomination of Minister of Planning and Budget nominee Lee Hye-hoon as "late but the natural outcome."
Chief deputy floor spokesperson Choi Eun-seok met with reporters at the National Assembly that day and said, "At the hearing, the nominee's hypocrisy and greed were laid bare in many ways, and none of the allegations raised were addressed at all," and stated accordingly.
He added, "There is a big difference between the vetting of a lawmaker and that of a Cabinet member," and pointed out, "Even if (in a conservative party) someone served three terms as a lawmaker, it can be seen that substantive verification of the nominee's ethics and qualifications did not take place, and this is the first proper vetting."
Park Soo-young, the opposition secretary of the National Assembly Strategy and Finance Committee, wrote on Facebook, "Withdrawing the nomination is justice served and the natural course. But the presidential office did not offer a single word of apology for the failure in personnel vetting," and said, "The public is angry, yet they are absurdly blaming the conservative party."
He went on, "President Lee mobilized the Civil Affairs Office, police, National Intelligence Service, National Tax Service, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, yet failed to catch not only rumors of power abuse but also gift tax evasion, special admissions for a son, improper housing subscriptions, and real estate speculation," and argued, "Confess that you did no vetting at all because you were engrossed in 'trick politics.'"
The People Power Party also demanded an investigation into the nominee and follow-up measures from the presidential office. Rep. Bae Hyun-jin wrote on Facebook, "So it was a short, broken pot drama after all. Watching the hearing, this should not end with a withdrawal but lead to an investigation."
Rep. Joo Jin-woo also wrote on Facebook, "We need to overhaul the apartment subscription system. Relying only on the party's change-of-address report will not screen out 'a second or third Lee Hye-hoon,'" and added, "We also need to reset the personnel vetting system."