Will Defense Minister Choo's Confirmation Hearing Overshadow Minister Jeong's Political Situation?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The confirmation hearing for Seo Wook, the nominee for Minister of National Defense, scheduled for the 16th, is expected to escalate into a fierce confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties over the 'preferential leave' controversy involving Seo's son, Seo Mo, who is the son of Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae.

The Ministry of National Defense has drawn a line regarding the preferential leave allegations, stating, "Leave is granted with the approval of the authorized approver, and leave can be granted even with verbal approval," adding, "In unavoidable circumstances during leave, extensions can be made via phone calls, etc." However, the People Power Party has expressed its intention to thoroughly investigate the truth in the public verification process at the confirmation hearing, making a direct clash between the ruling and opposition parties inevitable during Seo's confirmation hearing, following the government questioning session.

Within and outside the military, there are concerns that the opposition party might only amplify political voices without properly verifying the preferential leave allegations during the confirmation hearing. This is because it has been revealed that the military did not preserve related documents such as medical certificates for the majority of KATUSA soldiers who took medical leave for treatment purposes over the past four years. Out of 493 KATUSA soldiers, 469 (95%) lack documents related to sick leave. Some KATUSA soldiers even have missing administrative records such as leave orders.

Initially, Seo's confirmation hearing was expected to focus on issues such as false address registration for children's education. According to the office of Representative Han Ki-ho of the People Power Party, Seo's spouse and second daughter each engaged in false address registration once in 2009 and 2012, respectively. They registered false addresses from their original residence in Seodaemun-gu to Jongno-gu to secure middle and high school placements. After the school assignments were completed, they moved back to their original residence the following year. Representative Han's office stated, "They registered false addresses to secure school placements and moved back to their actual residence after the assignment. This is a typical method of false address registration."

Seo's camp explained, "It was thoughtless," adding, "This happened because when transferring from the countryside to Seoul, the daughter was teased by boys and wished to attend an all-girls middle and high school." However, the opposition party's attacks continued, arguing that this contradicts the seven personnel principles of the Moon Jae-in administration. In November 2017, President Moon announced the seven principles excluding high-ranking officials involved in false address registration, plagiarism, tax evasion, military service evasion, real estate speculation, adding drunk driving and sex-related crimes to the original five principles. Seo was also accused by the opposition last October of 'gap investment' after purchasing an apartment in Seoul with a lease loan.

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