"Park Sung-min Level 1 Criticism?... Did You Select Them Through Exams?" Lee Cheol-hee Directly Targets People Power Party Aide

Lee Cheol-hee, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House, appeared on the YouTube channel JTBC Insight's "Shin Ye-ri's Night Talk" on the 7th to share his views on the appointment of Park Sung-min as the Blue House Youth Secretary. Photo by JTBC Insight.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Lee Cheol-hee, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs at the Blue House, criticized the fairness controversy surrounding the appointment of Park Sung-min as Youth Secretary, calling it "politically motivated."

On the 7th, Lee appeared on the YouTube channel JTBC Insight's "Shin Ye-ri's All-Nighter Talk" and responded to criticism from some political circles regarding Park's appointment, saying, "I felt it was unfair. I wondered if it was because she is a woman."

He continued, "There is often the 'Itaedam' and 'Itaednyeo' frame, right? They oppose each other. There are two Itaedam in my house. My two sons are Itaedam. They haven't said anything to me specifically, but they have somewhat negative views about Itaednyeo," adding, "Because I felt that firsthand, we actually tried to appoint two Youth Secretaries, one male in his 30s and one female in her 20s, to try a new experiment. We looked for people, but we couldn't find a male in his 30s."

Lee also rebutted the public criticism from the People Power Party's aides' association. He said, "I am a former aide myself. Aides are not selected through exams; they are chosen if the lawmaker likes them," and added, "But when some friends from a specific party's aides' association asked, 'Why are you appointing secretaries like that?' I thought to myself, 'Who are you exactly?' and 'Did you get selected through an exam?'" Lee previously served as an aide to former lawmaker Kim Han-gil.

He further stated, "(Park) is not permanently a Grade 1 (civil servant); she is only there temporarily. To say that she is taking the place of those who passed the state exam or official civil servants is not a reasonable objection," and questioned, "If the Youth Secretary is not a young person, then who will do it? Since we adults have failed to solve youth issues, having the person directly involved participate is also a method. Isn't it natural that the Youth Secretary is a young person?"

Meanwhile, Park, born in 1996, was appointed last month as the Blue House Youth Secretary at the equivalent of Grade 1 at the age of 25. When fairness controversies arose at the time of her appointment, the People Power Party's aides' association issued a critical statement saying, "This is not a bold move but a comedy. It only provokes anger rather than winning the hearts of youth."

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