Deadlock Between Ruling and Opposition Parties Over Adoption of Lee Dong-gwan Hearing Report... Possibility of Failure

Jo Seung-rae "Not just unqualified, absolutely unqualified"
Park Sung-joong "Decided answer as unqualified and making unreasonable claims"

On the 18th and 19th, the ruling and opposition parties held a confirmation hearing for nominee Lee Dong-kwan, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, but as the deadline for adopting the hearing report approached on the 21st, they remained at an impasse. The opposition party insists that he is an "absolutely unqualified candidate" and refuses even to allow the report to state both qualified and unqualified statuses. With no proper negotiations between the parties for adoption underway, there is a significant possibility that the report adoption may fail.

Candidate for Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, Lee Dong-gwan, is speaking at the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 18th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Cho Seung-rae, the opposition party floor leader of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Communications Committee (STICC) from the Democratic Party of Korea, said on MBC's "Kim Jong-bae's Focus" on the 21st, "This nominee has multiple disqualifying reasons, so he is not just unqualified but 'absolutely unqualified.'" He added, "The ruling party will request to state both qualified and unqualified, but we view him as such an unqualified figure that even allowing both statuses is difficult. Therefore, if the report is adopted, it should be an unqualified report."

In addition to previously pointed out issues such as allegations of school violence involving his children, media control during the Lee Myung-bak administration, and tax evasion on gift taxes, the nominee's "attitude controversy" during the hearing has also surfaced. It was reported that nominee Lee responded to Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Jung-moon's question, "Do you plan to resign?" with "I will think about it over lunch," showing a lack of sincerity. Rep. Cho criticized, "His attitude itself is very arrogant," and said, "He does not answer the hearing members' questions with sincerity but only to evade the moment's crisis."

The opposition party has announced plans to file a perjury complaint against the nominee at the parliamentary confirmation hearing. Go Min-jung, chair of the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Media Freedom, stated on CBS's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show," "The nominee categorically denied requesting any media surveillance documents," but pointed out, "However, the 2017 investigation report by the Central District Prosecutors' Office clearly shows testimonies from three National Intelligence Service employees stating these were 'requested by the Office of the Senior Secretary for Public Relations.'" Newly surfaced testimonies from the homeroom teacher regarding the children's school violence issue and bribery testimonies related to personnel requests are also grounds for the perjury complaint.

Gominjeong, Chair of the Democratic Party's Special Committee on Press Freedom, is speaking at an emergency meeting between the Democratic Party and press organizations to prevent media control by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, held at the National Assembly on the 19th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties for adopting the hearing report remain sluggish, making the possibility of the report's adoption failing quite high. The ruling party claims to have requested negotiations with the opposition for adopting the report, but alleges the opposition is avoiding talks. Park Sung-joong, the ruling party floor leader of the STICC from the People Power Party, said on MBC Radio, "To decide on the agenda, Rep. Cho and I need to reach some agreement on whether to adopt or reject the report, but (Rep. Cho) is avoiding it, saying he has no time," adding, "The opposition has predetermined the nominee as unqualified and keeps repeating unreasonable claims."

To adopt the report, a full committee meeting of the STICC must be held for discussion, but if no agreement is reached on the agenda item of 'adopting the hearing report,' it will be difficult to convene the full meeting. He said, "'They say, 'Let's hold the standing committee from 10 o'clock no matter what,' but we have never held a full standing committee meeting without an agenda," adding, "We are not just gathering to chat among ourselves."

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