Hong Joon-pyo: "Lee In-young's Color Politics Talk, Shameless Response"

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Bong-ju] On the 24th, independent lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo commented on the responses of Lee In-young, the nominee for Minister of Unification, during the confirmation hearing, saying, "It would have been much more impressive if he had answered that although he was once deeply immersed in Juche ideology, he is no longer so."

On the same day, Hong referred to Lee's statements at the confirmation hearing held the previous day by the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee on his Facebook account, making this critique.

He said, "The most crucial agenda of the confirmation hearing for the Minister of Unification is ideological verification," adding, "This is especially true if the candidate has a history of pro-North Korean activities." This refers to Lee's past experience as the first chairman of the National Council of Student Representatives (Jeondaehyeop).

He continued, "It is utterly unreasonable to accuse someone of 'colorism' when asking the nominee at the hearing whether they once held Juche ideology or have ever renounced it."

Hong criticized, "How can someone with the intellectual capacity (知力) that cannot distinguish between colorism and essentialism be called a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea?"

He also said, "It is truly shameless to evade the essence by bringing up colorism, which might have worked only during the Fifth Republic era, when the question should be understood as it is and the answer left to the judgment of the people."

Earlier, on the 23rd, Tae Yong-ho, a member of the Future United Party and former North Korean diplomat stationed in the UK, asked Lee at the confirmation hearing, "Do you believe in North Korea's Juche ideology?" Lee responded that it was an inappropriate question.

Regarding Tae's question, Kim Young-ho of the Democratic Party pointed out, "How can you say to a four-term National Assembly member from the Republic of Korea and nominee for Minister of Unification, 'Give up Juche ideology, have you renounced it?'" and added, "This is an act that insults the National Assembly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.