New justice minister admits to falsifying address
Published: 14 Sep. 2009, 00:54
Lee Kwi-nam, the justice minister-designate whose hearing is scheduled for Thursday, apologized on Saturday for registering a phony address. In a statement released through the Justice Ministry, Lee acknowledged that his wife and his oldest son were registered as residents in Cheongpa-dong, Yongsan District, western Seoul, for six months. The Lee home was actually in Ichon-dong in the same district.
Lee said the move was for his son to be assigned to a high school of his preference but said, “It was a wrong decision on my part and I apologize for that.”
A number of politicians, including President Lee Myung-bak in his election campaign, have had to deal with questions surrounding their residencies. They’ve mostly defended the moves by citing their children’s school environment, rather than real estate speculation as their critics allege.
Min Il-young, a candidate for Supreme Court Justice, faces a hearing today. He will be the first of the designates to be grilled. He will also have to answer questions about a fake registration for the address of his wife Park Sun-young, a lawmaker for the Liberty Forward Party.
Chung Un-chan, the prime minister-designate, has until next Monday to prepare for his hearing but he has already had his hands full with controversy. The main opposition Democratic Party has alleged that Chung, as professor at Seoul National University, translated a research paper he wrote in 2000 into English the following year without identifying sources. Also, the DP said a thesis in 2001 contained content copied from a different paper published from three years earlier.
In addition, Chung served as an advisor for an Internet bookstore called Yes 24 while serving as professor at Seoul National. The opposition party has charged that it was illegal for Chung to hold down the both positions without authorization from the university president.
The DP has also alleged that Chung failed to report the 62.5 million won ($51,187) he earned as the advisor to the income tax authorities.
Chung will also face policy questions. Shortly after he was appointed as prime minister-designate, Chung said he didn’t think the controversial plan to build an administrative capital in South Chungcheong was efficient but it had to go on as planned because some progress had already been made.
The stance drew criticism from the DP, since the plan was first hatched under the liberal President Roh Moo-hyun in 2002. The Lee administration has kept mum on the project so far.
As an economist, Chung was critical of the current government’s economic policies, including the four rivers restoration project.
By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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