Minister nominee Park Hong-geun of the Ministry of Planning and Budget offered explanations regarding various allegations, including a military service exemption and false election brochures. On the circumstances of his exemption, Park said, "I followed the Military Manpower Administration's procedures at the time," and, regarding the entry in a past election brochure that his criminal record from the pro-democracy movement era had been "pardoned," he said, "That was my fault."
At the personnel hearing of the National Assembly's Financial and Economic Planning Committee on the 23rd, various controversies were raised over Park's military service exemption, false election brochures, and view of the state, among others.
First, Park Dae-chul of the People Power Party asked, "There were a total of six enlistment deferrals for reasons such as pending graduation, being a convict related to the political situation, and simultaneous military service by brothers. Didn't you intentionally delay enlistment to meet the conditions for exemption?" Following an amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Military Service Act at the time, certain college graduates and students aged 27 or older who had received a sentence of imprisonment or a suspended sentence of one year or more could be transferred to the second militia service (wartime labor service, effectively an exemption). Park met these conditions and was transferred to the second militia service in 1996.
Park said, "The deferrals took place while I was on trial," adding, "After I was assigned to supplementary service (public service worker), I inquired with the Military Manpower Administration, was informed under the rules that I was eligible for exemption, and it was processed accordingly." He continued, "It was in line with the circumstances of the time and institutional measures, and it was the result of following the procedural guidance."
Cheon Ha-ram of the Reform Party presented a campaign brochure from Park's first run for office, in which he wrote that his criminal records—including violations of the Act on the Punishment of the Use of Molotov Cocktails, the Assembly and Demonstration Act, and special obstruction of the performance of official duties causing injury—had been pardoned, and asked, "Was there actually a pardon?"
Park answered, "I completed the sentence, and I understood in a broad sense that since my voting rights were restored for running for public office, it meant I was pardoned and thus there was no problem with my candidacy."
In response, Cheon said, "Saying you have the right to run because your suspended sentence period ended is different from saying you were pardoned. Writing in a campaign brochure that you were pardoned when you were not constitutes spreading false information under the Public Official Election Act," adding, "At your first run, the margin was about 900 votes—wouldn't that have influenced voters' choices?"
Park then said, "I may not have used the legal term accurately," adding, "If I used the concept of a pardon as I did, I think I meant that once the sentence had completely expired, everything was cleared. It was my fault that I did not use the proper legal terminology."
Asked about his current views regarding past activist-era positions such as calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and the repeal of the National Security Act, Park said, "Times have changed, and my thinking has probably matured," adding, "As you know, at the time, in light of the so-called theory that the United States condoned the May 18 Gwangju pro-democracy movement, I had no choice but to maintain a negative and critical stance." On the National Security Act, he said, "Some provisions seem problematic," but on whether he supports repeal, he said, "I did not join in introducing related bills."