Agreement on Lee Jeong-sik's Confirmation Hearing Report... Only 4 out of 18 Candidates Including the Prime Minister Adopted

Lee Jeong-sik, nominee for Minister of Employment and Labor, is attending the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 4th and taking the witness oath. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee held a plenary session on the 6th and reached a consensus to adopt the personnel hearing report on Lee Jeong-sik, the nominee for Minister of Employment and Labor. This is the fourth report adopted among the total 19 nominees, including Prime Minister nominee Han Deok-su and ministers of 18 other departments.

In the progress report on nominee Lee, the Environment and Labor Committee stated, "There was an opinion that the nominee has extensive experience in the labor field and, having served as Secretary-General of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), is an expert who has long worked to resolve labor issues and can perform his duties smoothly." However, it also pointed out, "The nominee served as an outside director of Samsung Electronics but did not report employment activities related to advisory roles at Samsung C&T and other Samsung affiliates," adding, "There were concerns about whether he can properly protect workers' rights and interests between conglomerates and workers."

Earlier, the Environment and Labor Committee held a personnel hearing for nominee Lee on the 4th. Among the 19 nominees including Prime Minister nominee Han Deok-su and ministers of 18 departments, the personnel hearing reports adopted by the afternoon of that day included four individuals: Choo Kyung-ho, nominee for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance; Lee Jeong-sik, nominee for Minister of Employment and Labor; Lee Jong-ho, nominee for Minister of Science and ICT; and Han Hwa-jin, nominee for Minister of Environment.

It has been reported that the Yeoha (巨野, the opposition coalition) wall has blocked the confirmation of nominee Han, and the team of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol has set a policy to launch the new government cabinet 'without a prime minister' if Han's confirmation fails, as well as to start national administration with only vice ministers without appointing ministers.

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