United Future Party "Lee In-young's Delay and Refusal to Submit Materials... Reminds of North Korea's 'Salami Tactics'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Members of the Future United Party's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee criticized Lee In-young, the nominee for Minister of Unification, for delaying and refusing to submit materials, saying it "reminds one of North Korea's 'salami tactics'."

On the 21st, the Future United Party's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and stated, "Since Lee was announced as the ministerial candidate, the opposition party has requested a total of 1,304 hearing materials, but only 735 responses have been received so far, which is just 56.4%."

They pointed out, "Among the responses received, there are numerous cases citing personal information as a reason for not submitting materials," adding, "Core materials such as documents related to his son's stay in Berlin, Germany, and X-ray photos from when he was exempted from military service have still not been submitted."

The Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee members asked, "Whether the reason for the son's military service exemption was lawful is a very important matter to verify the morality of the candidate seeking to become minister," and questioned, "The place where the materials are stored is not a private institution but a national agency, the Military Manpower Administration, and the facts related to the military exemption fall under the public domain concerning public duties, not personal privacy, so why is the submission of materials being refused?"

They criticized, "The candidate is a figure who is being subjected to intense scrutiny due to high public suspicion regarding his son's extraordinary tuition fees and military exemption allegations while studying in Switzerland, which has the world's highest cost of living, as well as his biased views on North Korea, ideology, and security as a former chairman of the National Liberation (NL) faction of the 1980s Jeondaehyop, known to have believed in North Korea's Juche ideology," and added, "Nevertheless, he is refusing, delaying, omitting, submitting inadequate, and even sloppy materials in response to the requested submissions."

The Future United Party's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee members said, "The method of providing partial and sequential explanations to buy time reminds one of North Korea's 'salami tactics,'" and expressed concern, "We worry that the candidate might be mistakenly thinking that ignoring opposition hearing committee members who ask questions on behalf of the public and refusing to submit materials is a way to receive greater praise from the president."

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