Ruling and Opposition Parties Postpone Adoption of Byeon Chang-heum Hearing Report... Re-discussion Scheduled for the 28th

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport nominee Byeon Chang-heum is attending the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 23rd, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The ruling and opposition parties have agreed to reconsider the adoption of the confirmation hearing report for nominee Byeon Chang-heum, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, on the 28th.

Jin Sun-mi, Chairperson of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, said at the full committee meeting on the afternoon of the 24th, "There can be various opinions on whether the nominee is qualified or unqualified. Please do your best on both sides to include all those opinions and adopt the report," adding, "We will definitely hold a full committee meeting at 10 a.m. next Monday and handle the adoption of the report through a vote if necessary."

Cho Eung-cheon, the Democratic Party's floor leader in the Land Committee, stated, "There are several ways, such as simply voting as it stands now, but I agree that taking time over the weekend to seek any form of consensus on the hearing report and exploring all possible ways to process it aligns with the Land Committee's principle of cooperation." Earlier, Lee Heon-seung, the People Power Party's floor leader in the Land Committee, proposed, "Since there is still time to process the report, let's take more time to gather opinions."

On the same day, lawmakers from both parties showed starkly different views on nominee Byeon. Jin Sung-jun of the Democratic Party said, "Many of the allegations raised against the nominee have been confirmed to be largely unfounded," and added, "All lawmakers from both parties agree that nominee Byeon is an expert in housing and urban planning, possessing both theoretical knowledge and practical experience." On the other hand, Park Sung-min of the People Power Party criticized Byeon's apology, saying, "He said he reflected and apologized, but it was not a sincere apology," and added, "He had ample opportunities to apologize but only did so to become a minister as a nominee."

During the meeting, Kim Jin-ae of the Open Democratic Party took photos of People Power Party lawmakers with her phone camera, causing a commotion in the chamber. People Power Party lawmakers strongly protested, saying, "Why are you taking pictures?" and "Delete the photos." Kim responded, "A member of the National Assembly is both a reporter and a PD. I wanted to take pictures of the placards since yesterday, but since it was a minister nominee hearing, I couldn't. Today was an opportunity, so I took them," and added, "What is the problem with taking pictures of each other in a public setting?"

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