Lee Jae-myung: "Hwang Kyo-ik Is Not a Favoritism Appointment... Will Decide Based on Public Opinion"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate and Governor of Gyeonggi Province, denied the criticism that appointing food columnist Hwang Kyo-ik as the president of the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization was a 'favor appointment.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 17th, during the 4th TV debate of the Democratic Party presidential primary broadcasted on Channel A, Lee responded to former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun's question about a 'favor appointment' by saying, "People say I changed the regulations to hire this person, but the regulations were already changed three years ago."

Lee explained, "Previously, only 'gwanpia' (bureaucratic insiders) could be appointed. Only officials above a certain rank or those with a doctoral degree were hired, but the hiring regulations were changed to also recruit creative individuals, and this change has already been made in the Korea Tourism Organization under the central government." He added, "Currently, three times the number of candidates have been submitted by the executive recommendation committee, and we will make the final decision after considering public opinion and the opinions of the residents."

He continued, "I have strictly made personnel decisions based on whether someone has ability, not on whether they are close to me or not."

When former Prime Minister Chung pointed out, "There is no case where someone admits, 'I made a favor appointment,'" Lee retorted, "I have seen cases where perfectly qualified personnel were attacked as favor appointments."

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