People Power Party's Kim Eun-hye: "Byeon Chang-heum is the 'Second Jo Guk'... Reigning Over the Common People"

Allegations Raised Over Refusal to Convert to Permanent Contract and Hiring of Acquaintances

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Kim Eun-hye, a member of the People Power Party, criticized Byun Chang-heum, the nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, holding a press briefing on the 18th as a "second Cho Kuk."

Right after holding a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office that day, Rep. Kim told reporters, "President Moon Jae-in bypassed the National Assembly as if he had already appointed the minister even before the hearing was held, and the nominee voluntarily held a press briefing as if he could not refuse the reporters' requests, which is an attitude that disregards the people," adding, "In short, this government’s rush to go its own way regardless of the will of the people."

Rep. Kim raised suspicions that nominee Byun, during his tenure as president of the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH), canceled the conversion of marketing contract workers to indefinite-term contracts and hired acquaintances. She explained, "In 2013, SH was in severe debt and announced a recruitment notice for marketing experts, saying that if performance was excellent, they would be converted to indefinite-term contracts," adding, "Non-regular young workers were considered quite excellent employees. However, (Byun) showed an attitude of effectively refusing the conversion to indefinite-term contracts on the grounds that not everyone could be hired."

She continued, "(SH) posted a new recruitment notice for experts during this contract conversion process. One of the people hired here was a prot?g? of nominee Byun," pointing out, "For the head of a public corporation and ministry, this is naturally an issue directly related to qualifications and morality."

Regarding the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) spending over 40 million won on interior work for two public rental housing sites visited by President Moon, Rep. Kim stated, "The Democratic Party claims that although LH submitted an estimate for interior repair costs to our office, there was no interior construction as public opinion turned unfavorable," adding, "You cannot cover the sky with your palm." She added, "Residents clearly said construction was carried out at night, and they even complained about hardly sleeping at dawn due to drills," and said, "The Democratic Party, which dismisses clear official documents as fake news and deceives the public, should apologize to the people."

Rep. Kim criticized nominee Byun’s past remark on the 'Guui Station accident,' saying, "'If only (the victim) had been cared for, nothing would have happened,'" as "an insult to the victims by implying that the disaster caused by systemic failure was just a mistake by a company employee," and said, "This shows the Moon administration’s slogan of 'people first' was actually 'people last,' and 'only my side comes first.'"

Regarding another controversial remark by nominee Byun, "Why would poor people buy food instead of cooking at home? Are they crazy?" Rep. Kim said, "It cannot be denied that he looked down on the common people."

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