'Confirmation Hearing Standoff' Between Ruling and Opposition Parties... Shin Won-sik Report Fails to Pass

National Defense Committee of the National Assembly, Virtually Impossible to Agree on Schedule
Ruling Party in the Gender Equality Committee Declares... "Hearing to Cover Judicial Risks"
Opposition Party Says "Withdrawing Nominee and Canceling Hearing is Unbelievable"

The ruling and opposition parties continue their head-to-head confrontation over ministerial confirmation hearings related to the cabinet reshuffle carried out by the Yoon Suk-yeol administration last month. President Yoon nominated Kim Haeng for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, Shin Won-sik for Minister of National Defense, and Yoo In-chon for Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, but no agreement has been reached in the National Assembly regarding the schedule of the hearings or the adoption of the progress reports. The political fallout from the dismissal of the arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, has struck the political world, making future schedules uncertain.

On the 4th, the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly failed to agree on the schedule for the plenary session to adopt the progress report on the confirmation hearing of Shin Won-sik, the nominee for Minister of National Defense. The People Power Party proposed a plan to include both favorable and unfavorable opinions on the nominee, but the Democratic Party insisted on unfavorable opinions, resulting in no agreement on the plenary session schedule. A People Power Party official from the National Defense Committee said, "Since no agreement has been reached so far, it is unlikely that the plenary session will be held today."

In the case of nominee Shin, the request for confirmation hearing was sent to the National Assembly on the 15th of last month, and the hearing was held on the 27th of the same month, so the progress report on the confirmation hearing must be adopted by this day. However, if the National Assembly fails to submit the report by this day, the President may request the National Assembly to resubmit the report within 10 days. If the National Assembly still does not submit the report within this period, the President can appoint the nominee without the consent of the National Assembly. If the National Assembly does not agree this time as well, Shin will become the 18th ministerial-level official appointed without a confirmation hearing report under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

The confirmation hearings for Kim Haeng, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, and Yoo In-chon, nominee for Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, were scheduled for the 5th. However, the schedule for Kim's confirmation hearing is tentative. This is because opposition members of the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee unilaterally decided on the hearing schedule and witness adoption, leading ruling party members to declare a boycott of the hearing.

On the 14th, Kim Haeng, the nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, is answering reporters' questions as she arrives at her campaign office in Chungjeongno, Seoul. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

Jeon Ju-hye, floor leader of the People Power Party, said in a statement that day, "Before the confirmation hearings even started, the opposition demanded the withdrawal of appointments in a 'pre-decided answer' manner for the nominees of the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and then unilaterally approved the holding of the Gender Equality and Family Minister's confirmation hearing." She criticized, "If the Democratic Party continues to flaunt its power using its absolute number of seats, the last regular session of the 21st National Assembly will end up with nothing but political strife, and people's livelihoods will inevitably be pushed aside." She added, "The public will watch whether the Democratic Party returns from political strife aimed at covering up the judicial risks of leader Lee Jae-myung and keeps its promises by focusing on people's livelihoods."

On the other hand, the Democratic Party criticized through floor spokesperson Yoon Young-duk's statement, saying, "It is outrageous that the ruling party says it will boycott the confirmation hearings," and asked, "You demanded the withdrawal of the nominations, so are you trying to cancel the confirmation hearings?" Yoon said, "The unprecedented situation of boycotting the hearings is nothing but an illegal tactic to nullify the confirmation hearings and force the appointments." He pointed out, "Until recently, the People Power Party said that 'confirmation hearings are a legally guaranteed time for public scrutiny,' and that boycotting the hearings is an 'irresponsible and shameless act.' Where have they gone?"

The confirmation hearing for nominee Yoo is also expected to face difficulties. The Democratic Party focused criticism on Yoo's written response to questions, in which he denied the existence of a 'blacklist' in the cultural and artistic sectors during the Lee Myung-bak (MB) administration. Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party and chairman of the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee conducting Yoo's hearing, said on the radio, "From the perspective of those who experienced it, the blacklist existed, but those who were in positions to create or manage it did not even recognize it as a blacklist."

Ko Min-jung, a Supreme Council member, also raised her voice at the Supreme Council meeting that day, saying, "Looking at the written response, the shamelessness reaches its peak," and "He is denying facts known to the whole world."

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