Minister nominee Lee Hye-hoon of the Ministry of Planning and Budget has been engulfed in allegations of abusing an aide and an "apartment lottery subscription," as progressive-leaning civic groups have moved to demand the withdrawal of the nomination.
The Housing Rights Network, which includes People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), said in a joint commentary on the 11th, "The impact is growing as the nominee, who had presented herself as a 'person without a home,' is said to have accumulated asset through real estate speculation and is even facing allegations of fraudulent subscription," adding, "We find the nominee highly unfit and oppose the appointment."
In 2024, the nominee applied for and won a subscription with a score of 74 points for an exclusive 137 square meters at "Raemian One Pentas" in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. The apartment was offered for sale at 3.6 billion won, but the current market price has risen to 9 billion won, and it has been called a "lottery subscription."
The nominee is suspected of having increased the number of dependents to obtain additional subscription points by keeping the eldest son, who was married at the time, listed as unmarried and grouped in the same household during the application process.
The Housing Rights Network said, "This is a matter in which the possibility cannot be ruled out of not only the cancellation of the sales contract but also criminal punishment for violating the Housing Act, as it involves wrongfully obtaining dwellings by abusing the subscription system and lying."
The Housing Rights Network also pointed to the nominee's remark in a 2020 media interview that she had been a "person without a home for 15 years."
The Housing Rights Network argued, "It amounts to consuming the suffering of working-class people without homes to build a political image, coming from someone known to have formed asset worth billions of won," adding, "In reality, the nominee and spouse are even suspected of having shared an apartment won through fraudulent subscription and reaped tens of billions of won in market gains, making the conduct to date nothing short of clear deception of the public."
It continued, "Just as you cannot expect the lower water to be clear when the upper water is muddy, there is no way the nation's economic order will be set right with that person serving as Minister of a core economic ministry," adding, "The nominee lacks the moral qualities required of a senior public official."
The nominee's side explained, "Parents could not intervene in the marriage registration of an adult child," adding, "The eldest son, Kim, stayed in Sejong on weekdays and lived in Seocho-dong (the nominee's residence) on weekends, while the newlywed home in Yongsan was where the daughter-in-law lived."
The nominee plans to give a detailed explanation of the various allegations at the National Assembly confirmation hearing. The National Assembly Planning and Finance Committee plans to vote on the adoption of the implementation plan for the confirmation hearing at a full committee meeting on the 12th. The nominee's hearing is then scheduled for the 19th.