[Newsmaker] Deadlock looms in Natl. Assembly over confirmation approvals of 3 minister nominees

A political standoff between the ruling and main opposition parties appeared imminent Thursday, as key National Assembly committees were scheduled to decide on the parliamentary approvals of scandal-ridden minister nominees recently picked by President Moon Jae-in.

Earlier this week, parliamentary confirmation hearings on nominees for science, oceans, land, trade and labor ministers were carried out by the National Assembly.

Of those, Lim Hye-sook, Park Jun-young and Noh Hyeong-ouk, nominees for science, oceans and land ministers, respectively, were heavily targeted by the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) for some of their personal and family-related histories that are being alleged as unethical to borderline illegal.

The PPP held a general meeting Thursday and decided that the three nominees were "unfit" to become Cabinet members and chose to boycott committee meetings later in the day to issue parliamentary consent reports.

The main opposition demands that the three nominees withdraw their nomination.

As of now, the brunt of the PPP's firepower is targeted at Lim, who has come under fire for underreporting on the prices of her apartment transactions for alleged tax evasion and accompanying her family with her on state-funded trips to overseas academic events between 2016 and 2020.

"A voluntary withdrawal should be Lim's last duty to the public if Cheong Wa Dae does not immediately cancel its nomination," said PPP Rep. Park Sung-joong, the party's senior member of the parliament's science committee.

Park, meanwhile, has come under fire for having brought in a large number of porcelain teaware, plates and ornaments bought by his wife from Britain while the nominee was serving as a minister counselor at the South Korean Embassy in London from 2015-2018 and later allegedly selling those at her private cafe for commercial gains.

Noh is alleged to have reaped unfair profit by selling an apartment in the administrative city of Sejong in 2017 that was supplied under a special allotment program in 2011 for public servants who work there. He is also reported to have received special tax breaks offered for homeowners who live in their properties as opposed to putting them up for rent.

The PPP is reportedly mulling over how to deal with various political scenarios surrounding the "problematic" nominations, including the possibility of the ruling Democratic Party railroading parliamentary consent reports without the PPP's participation.

Throughout his term, Moon has made 29 minister appointments despite the main opposition's objections.

Additional appointments under such circumstances could become a political burden for the president and administration, especially in light of the ruling party's crushing defeat in last month's Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections, a key barometer of voter sentiment ahead of next year's presidential election. (Yonhap)