PM nominee hearing delayed amid opposition boycotts

Apr 26, 2022, 09:30 am

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Prime Minister nominee Han Duk-soo attends his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly amid a boycott by the ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the minor Justice Party on April 25, 2022./ Photographed by Lee Byung-hwa

AsiaToday reporter Kim Na-ri

A parliamentary confirmation hearing for the first cabinet personnel of the Yoon Suk-yeol government was cut short on Monday. The ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the minor Justice Party boycotted the hearing for prime minister nominee Han Duk-soo, citing Han’s failure to provide requested data. The ruling and opposition parties decided to resume the session on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

The confirmation hearing for Han was carried out Monday with only lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) in attendance, including Rep. Joo Ho-young, the chair of the special hearing committee. Eight lawmakers of the ruling DP and the Justice Party under the hearing committee boycotted the hearing. Before the adjournment, Rep. Kang Byung-won of the DP pointed out Han’s half-hearted submission of documents for about 8 minutes.

“I express strong regret that the PPP unilaterally began the hearing, despite the DP’s earnest request to postpone it,” Kang said. “The PPP says that changing the hearing schedule is a deception on the public. However, its intention to hold a poorly-prepared hearing is in fact a deception on the public,” he said before leaving the hearing room.

In response, Rep. Sung Il-jong of the PPP called for the opposition bloc’s return to the session, saying a confirmation hearing for a prime minister nominee is a promise with the people. “The request for a confirmation hearing was submitted on April 7, and the law stipulates that it must be completed by April 26. We have to give the public an opportunity to evaluate the nominee’s morality, expertise and experience,” Sung said. “It is appropriate to discuss and verify the issues of the hearing process, such as insufficient data submission, during a hearing. The DP and the Justice Party’s reason for not attending the hearing is hard to understand,” said Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the PPP.

Under the current law, prime minister is the only Cabinet post that requires parliamentary approval. Therefore, the cooperation of the majority party, the DP, is essential. For this reason, the PPP saw that the progress of the hearing without the DP was meaningless and stopped the session in 39 minutes. Rep. Kang and Rep. Sung, the senior members of the special hearing committee, re-discussed about confirmation hearing schedule for Han and submission of documents at the National Assembly Hall on Monday afternoon, but failed to reach a conclusion.

Some point out that the DP is taking an offensive attitude against Han, who has been verified as a former prime minister, to remove other minister nominees. The DP had previously announced that it would carry out a thorough verification on health minister nominee Chung Ho-young and justice minister nominee Han Dong-hoon.

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