Vice Prime Minister and Ministry of Education Minister nominee Choi Kyo-jin said on the 2nd regarding a conspiracy theory post he shared on his social media about the Cheonan sinking, "I think we can review or discuss opinions that raise issues."
During the personnel hearing held that day at the National Assembly Education Committee, nominee Choi replied to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Kim Yong-tae, who asked, "You shared posts related to the collision of an Israeli submarine regarding the Cheonan sinking. Did you not trust the government and international community's investigation results?" saying, "It is not that I did not trust it, but I shared it from the perspective that it might be worth discussing."
He also answered Kim's question, "Do you have any intention to apologize to the victims of the Cheonan sinking, their families, and the surviving soldiers?" by saying, "At that time, I did not say it was a conspiracy theory about the Cheonan incident with professional knowledge, and now I think we should respect the results that the state has investigated and announced, and if there are people who were hurt by that post on social media, I apologize."
Earlier, nominee Choi repeatedly shared posts on his social media in 2013 claiming the "Cheonan sinking conspiracy theory." He also expressed agreement with conspiracy theories by sharing posts saying, "The reason for the Cheonan sinking was the Israeli submarine, Shin Sang-cheol's court documents submitted."
Additionally, when People Power Party lawmaker Seo Ji-young asked, "How many previous convictions do you have?" he replied, "Three." Then when Seo questioned, "You said you've been educating for future generations, is this educational?" he stated, "What is called a prior conviction is someone who is a depraved criminal or something like that."
When Seo asked, "Isn't drunk driving a depraved crime, a potential murder?" he replied, "I was not a teacher at that time (of the drunk driving in 2003)" but added, "The fact that I drove drunk is clearly wrong, and it is the thing I regret most in my life."