"'Lee Ju-ho Donation Controversy' Company Chairman: 'Did You Think I Would Become Minister Again?'"

Chairman Ki-seok Park of Ice Cream Edu.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Park Ki-seok, chairman of Icecream Edu, an edutech company, spoke out on the 25th regarding the controversy over the company’s large donation to an association chaired by Lee Ju-ho, the nominee for Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education.

At a press conference commemorating the launch of "Icecream Home Run 2.0," Park said, "The donation was made for the purpose of the company’s global expansion," adding, "How could I have known that he (the nominee) would try to become minister twice?" Lee, who served as Minister of Education, Science and Technology from August 2010 to February 2013, was nominated last month as Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education.

Icecream Edu donated 100 million won to the Asia Education Association, where Lee served as chairman, in November 2020. The Asia Education Association is a nonprofit corporation established to research ways to reduce educational disparities in the Asian region using digital technology. It is the Asian branch of the Global Education Finance Commission, founded by former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was a UN education envoy in 2015, along with world leaders. Lee served as the inaugural chairman of the association from April 2020, shortly after its establishment, until recently. He stepped down from the chairman position after being nominated as Deputy Prime Minister.

Park explained the background of the donation, saying, "At that time, our company’s CEO repeatedly suggested to me that we make a donation to the association, so I agreed," and added, "There were almost no domestic educational institutions with global networking capabilities, but I judged that having a relationship with the association would make that possible." He continued, "I don’t know if the nominee proposed the donation first, but I think there might have been such a request," and added, "I have no personal friendship with the nominee, but I remember greeting him a few times at conferences."

Meanwhile, Lee ran as a preliminary candidate for Seoul Superintendent of Education in the local elections last June but withdrew midway. It was recently revealed that he received donations from executives of edutech companies and industry insiders at that time, which has fueled the controversy.