Lee So-young: "Jo Myeong-hee, who faced criticism for 'government lobbying,' being assigned to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee is not common sense"

Democratic Party: "Joonghee Jomun, involved in 'conflict of interest,' must resign from Land Transport Committee"... Cho expresses "regret over slander"

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] On the 1st, Lee So-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated that Jo Myung-hee, a member of the People Power Party assigned to the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, should resign due to a conflict of interest.

Lee said, "I have seen him representing the interests of a specific industry to which his owned company belongs by questioning ministers in government hearings," adding, "On social media, there were comments like 'Is this government lobbying or government questioning?' This is against common sense." She further noted, "We should recall that the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act was enacted after issues arose regarding Park Deok-heum's family company receiving tens of billions of won in orders from agencies overseen by the Land Committee."

Jo, an expert in satellite information, was recruited by the People Power Party as a talent in the science field during the 2020 general election and was elected as a proportional representative lawmaker. He founded and has managed the geographic information system company 'GeoCNI' since 2003, and currently holds unlisted stocks worth 4.6 billion KRW in the company.

The Democratic Party raised concerns that Jo made complaint-like inquiries related to his owned company during the economic sector government questioning on the 26th of last month. During the questioning, Jo criticized Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong, stating that "the Land Information Corporation (LX) is killing small and medium spatial information companies."

Lee said about Jo, "It is difficult to understand the process by which he applied for and was assigned to the Land Committee despite knowing his close relationship with the company he owns." She pointed out, "He demanded the resignation of the president of the Land Information Corporation on the grounds of infringing on the interests of the industry and urged the enactment of the Promotion Act requested by the industry. The moment a lawmaker is suspected of using their right to question for the benefit of a specific company, public trust in the entire National Assembly is damaged."

Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Cheol-min also criticized, "The possibility of conflict of interest in the Land Committee is so obvious that working there without avoiding such conflicts may violate the National Assembly Act and the Public Officials Ethics Act."

In response, Jo said, "I came to the Land Committee to pursue my major, and I am not a livelihood-type entrepreneur," adding, "I have also placed my stocks in a blind trust according to National Assembly regulations." He rebutted, "The Spatial Information Business Association has suffered many disadvantages and damages from LX, and I represented that part. I have absolutely no personal gain," and added, "It is very regrettable to attack my personal character in such a way."

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