Nominee No Jeong-hee's Confirmation Hearing... Will the First Female Election Commissioner Chair Appear?

Real Estate Gains, Political Bias, and Other Issues

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The confirmation hearing for No Jeong-hee, a nominee for the Central Election Commission, was held at the National Assembly on the 27th. The currently vacant position of Central Election Commission Chairperson is traditionally appointed by electing a Supreme Court Justice from among the election commissioners. If nominee No passes the hearing, she will become the first female Chairperson of the Central Election Commission. Key issues during the hearing included the fact that No's husband made a profit exceeding 900 million KRW in three years from real estate sales and controversies over No's political bias.

Park Soo-young, a member of the People Power Party, stated on Facebook the day before, "President Moon Jae-in is pushing ahead with appointments even though the confirmation hearing report has not been adopted due to opposition from the opposition party," adding, "No matter what problems arise with nominee No, the appointment will be forced through. However, for the record of history, I will question each issue thoroughly."

According to materials released by Rep. Park on the 23rd, No's husband, Mr. Lee, purchased real estate for 1.26 billion KRW in 2017 and sold it for 2.2 billion KRW after about three years, earning a capital gain of 940 million KRW. Mr. Lee, who holds a Ph.D. in Korean Medicine, opened a nursing hospital in the building. According to the public official asset disclosure as of the end of 2017, No borrowed approximately 230 million KRW and Mr. Lee about 1.57 billion KRW from financial institutions for the purpose of "hospital establishment costs." No's side explained that since her spouse operated the nursing hospital until recently, it was not speculation.

The increase of about 1.5 billion KRW in the assets of No and her family over the past nine months also came under scrutiny. According to the confirmation hearing request submitted to the National Assembly on the 16th, No reported total assets of 2,555,208,000 KRW as of the 25th of last month for herself and her family. The assets disclosed in the public official asset report as of December 31 of last year were 1,068,155,000 KRW. No's side stated that the increase in assets was due to real estate sales and profits from her spouse's business.

The opposition party also raised concerns about whether No could maintain political neutrality, given that she is a member of the 'Uri Law Research Association,' a group of judges with progressive leanings. In her written response submitted to the National Assembly, No said, "I find it difficult to agree with the view that being a member of the Uri Law Research Association means being progressive or politically biased."

Regarding allegations raised by some about election fraud in the April 15 general election, No stated, "I regret the distrust in the political neutrality of the Election Commission and the vote counting results, as well as the division of public opinion caused by denying the election results." No was nominated by Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo and has served as a presiding judge at the Seoul High Court and as director of the Court Library.

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