Hwang Hee Takes Sick Leave from National Assembly Plenary Session for Family Trip to Spain

"Short-tenured secretarial staff made errors while writing reasons"
Monthly average living expenses of 600,000 won also controversial "Saving because daughter's tuition is high"

Hwang Hee, the nominee for Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is facing controversy after taking sick leave during a National Assembly plenary session and going on a family trip to Spain and other places. Hwang's camp stated, "There was a mistake. We will sincerely explain at the hearing."

According to data on absences from standing committee sessions during plenary meetings of the 20th National Assembly, released on the 7th by Choi Hyung-doo, a member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee (People Power Party), Hwang was absent from plenary sessions seventeen times between 2016 and 2021. Eight of these absences were due to "personal reasons (sick leave)." However, on July 20, 2017, he was traveling in Spain with his family for eleven days. At that time, the plenary session was discussing the first supplementary budget of the Moon Jae-in administration, but twenty-six Democratic Party members were absent, causing a quorum shortage. The members of the Liberty Korea Party (People Power Party), who had staged a mass walkout, returned and barely managed to pass the supplementary budget.

Hwang was also absent from a plenary session in March 2017 due to sick leave and went on a business trip to the United States. His camp explained this as a "simple administrative mistake." They said, "A secretary with little work experience made an error when submitting the reason." The People Power Party criticized, "It does not add up that he lives on 600,000 won per month but travels abroad and spends 42 million won annually on tuition for his daughter attending an international school."

According to the withholding tax receipt for earned income submitted by Hwang to the National Assembly, his after-tax income in 2019 was 138 million won. Excluding apartment rent, debt repayments, insurance premiums, donations, and savings, the annual expenditure for Hwang, his spouse, and child was 7.2 million won, averaging about 600,000 won per month. In response to claims that this was unrealistic, Hwang's camp explained, "There was income from book publication events and other sources that were not required to be reported." They also said, "It is true that we saved on living expenses because the tuition for our daughter was high." The autonomous private high school in Mokdong, where Hwang's daughter transferred in 2019, has an annual tuition of about 42 million won.

Hwang is also under suspicion of receiving quid pro quo donations after processing a bill permitting Korea Water Resources Corporation to engage in profit-making businesses while serving as a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee. According to Kim Ye-ji, a member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee (People Power Party), Hwang proposed a bill in March 2018 allowing the Water Resources Corporation to build a building in the Busan Smart City and conduct profit-making businesses. The bill passed four months later. A civic group, the Judicial Exam Preparation Student Association, claimed that Hwang received two donations of 5 million won each from a senior executive of the Water Resources Corporation who benefited from the bill. They filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office requesting punishment for Hwang for violating the Political Funds Act. Hwang's camp stated, "We do not know the donors." Regarding the bill, they explained, "Although he proposed it, it was handled through bipartisan agreement."

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