Seoul, Jan 19: Rival parties in South Korea clashed on Monday over whether to hold a confirmation hearing for Lee Hye-hoon, nominee to lead the newly established South Korea’s Ministry of Planning and Budget, amid objections from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).
The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the PPP had reached an agreement last week to hold the hearing, but the PPP later boycotted the move, saying the nominee failed to submit key documents requested by the lawmakers, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Tensions flared up during the Strategy and Finance Committee’s meeting earlier in the day as opposition lawmakers protested Lee’s absence at the session.
“What kind of a confirmation hearing for a nominee is held without the nominee?” DP Rep. Kim Young-jin said.
Lawmakers from minor opposition parties also criticised the move, saying the committee should not proceed without securing complete documents from the nominee.
The committee’s chair, Representative Lim Lee-ja of the PPP, suspended the meeting and instructed the rival parties to hold further talks to decide whether to hold the hearing.
The nominee, a former three-term lawmaker from the conservative bloc, has drawn criticism from both ruling and opposition parties following President Lee Jae Myung’s nomination last month.
The opposition bloc has urged nominee Lee to step down, citing suspicions related to her husband’s real estate dealings and allegations over her treatment of subordinates and an intern during her tenure as a lawmaker.
On January 6, Lee Hye-hoon, the nominee for head of the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget, held a meeting with academics and researchers to gather policy recommendations on future fiscal directions, her confirmation hearing preparation team said.
The meeting brought together six experts specialising in fiscal management, including Kang Byung-koo, an economics professor at Inha University, who shared their views on fiscal operations and policy challenges.
During the meeting, the experts agreed that fiscal policy should play a more proactive role in easing difficulties facing the public amid a period of structural economic transition.
In response, Lee assessed that both domestic and external conditions are facing unprecedented challenges.
She stressed that it is time for fiscal policy to actively serve as a catalyst to solidify economic recovery, boost potential growth and ease polarisation.
“It has been my consistent belief that fiscal policy must faithfully fulfil its role when it is most needed,” Lee was quoted as saying.
The meeting came as Lee, a former three-term lawmaker from the conservative bloc, has drawn criticism from both ruling and opposition parties following her surprise nomination by President Lee Jae Myung
–IANS