Yeo Warns of 'Boycott' Over Han Ki-jung Fair Trade Commission Chair Nominee's Uncooperative Document Submission

"65.6% of Requested Materials Not Submitted... Condemning Attempts to Undermine Personnel Hearings"

Candidate Han Ki-jung for Chairman of the Fair Trade Commission is arriving at the personnel hearing office set up at the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 22nd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Members of the Democratic Party belonging to the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee strongly condemned on the 30th the attempt by Han Ki-jung, the nominee for Fair Trade Commission Chairman, to undermine the National Assembly's personnel hearing function with an insincere and careless attitude.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly on the same day, the lawmakers pointed out, "Han, the nominee, is refusing to submit materials related to both his family and himself, citing the Personal Information Protection Act as an excuse, in response to the National Assembly's legitimate requests for materials for personnel verification."

They added, "The Democratic Party defines Han's behavior as a refusal to participate in the personnel hearing and states that under these circumstances, the scheduled hearing on the 2nd cannot proceed normally."

The lawmakers stated, "Democratic Party members of the Political Affairs Committee requested a total of 535 documents for the verification of the nominee and to clarify suspicions against him, in accordance with Article 12, Paragraph 1 of the Personnel Hearing Act, but 351 documents, accounting for 65.6% of the total requests, were not submitted."

They continued, "Among the unsubmitted documents, more than half were refused on the grounds of personal information protection," and emphasized, "It cannot be justified to arbitrarily refuse to provide materials related to the spouse or immediate family members solely on the basis of privacy."

The lawmakers warned, "Due to Han's deliberate refusal to submit materials and his attempt to avoid the personnel hearing, we have no choice but to take extraordinary measures such as adjusting the hearing schedule," and urged, "The People Power Party should also engage in discussions to ensure a thorough personnel hearing so that the 'belated hearing' of the Fair Trade Commission Chairman, held more than 100 days after the government's inauguration, does not degenerate into a 'hearing acknowledging lack of expertise.'"

In response, Han, through his personnel hearing preparation team, expressed, "We fully agree with the purpose of the personnel hearing to strictly verify the qualifications and morality of high-ranking officials," and stated, "We will cooperate more in submitting materials going forward."

Han's side explained, "The nominee's spouse is an ordinary office worker completely unrelated to the Fair Trade Commission," and added, "Some materials were not submitted because disclosing the spouse's personal information could impose various restrictions on their future social life."

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