Tense Atmosphere in the Wild... Fierce Attacks on 'Separation of Powers, Thesis Plagiarism, and Asset Omission' at the 丁 Hearing

Prime Minister nominee Jeong Sye-gyun attended the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 7th and appeared to be drinking water as if he was thirsty. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Prime Minister nominee Jeong Seyeon broke a sweat on the 7th during the confirmation hearing as the opposition party launched fierce attacks, pointing out controversies such as the violation of the separation of powers, plagiarism of his doctoral thesis, and omission of property declarations.

The opening salvo was fired by Kim Hyun-ah, a member of the Liberty Korea Party. In her main question, Rep. Kim said, "The fact that a former Speaker of the National Assembly is going to be Prime Minister is tantamount to the ruling party giving up its function to check the executive branch," and asked, "You excuse it by saying the economy is difficult and you will be of help, but is that the whole reason you changed your position (to accept the Prime Minister post)?"

In response, nominee Jeong said, "The Prime Minister nomination has nothing to do with the separation of powers. It is simply the order of protocol listed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs protocol manual, which applies only to incumbents," adding, "I am currently a member of the National Assembly, and no matter where I go, I am not treated as second in protocol."

When Rep. Kim asked, "If appointed Prime Minister, will you resign from your position as a member of the National Assembly?" Jeong replied, "I have not thought about it. However, my term has only four months left."

Rep. Joo Ho-young of the Liberty Korea Party also raised the issue of the violation of the separation of powers. He said, "Accepting the nomination for Prime Minister after serving as Speaker of the National Assembly undermines the spirit of the separation of powers," and asked, "I treated the nominee with respect as Speaker, but will I not have to do so in the future?"

To which nominee Jeong responded, "The members will handle it themselves."

Rep. Sung Il-jong of the Liberty Korea Party questioned the unclear process of asset formation. Rep. Sung pointed out, "Nominee Jeong, while serving as a member of the National Assembly in 2014, had a total income of about 100 million won, but looking at expenditures, card usage was 86 million won, donations 40 million won, which is much more than the income," adding, "You spent about 27 million won more. But you declared an increase of 38 million won in assets at that time. Where did the 65.18 million won come from?"

In response, nominee Jeong said, "In 2014, my eldest daughter got married and we received congratulatory money. The large card expenditures were because my eldest daughter paid for the wedding expenses by card."

Allegations of plagiarism in his doctoral thesis were also raised. Earlier, Rep. Kim Hyun-ah said, "The plagiarism allegations of the nominee's doctoral thesis first arose during the 2012 general election," and pointed out, "The nominee said the thesis was supervised by the responsible professor and passed a proper review, and the supervising professor said there was no problem, but many theses have later been found to be plagiarized and canceled or designated as plagiarized."

Nominee Jeong said, "The 2004 thesis passed the review, and research ethics standards were strengthened in 2007. By current standards, there may be shortcomings," adding, "I only tried to study more as a politician, and I have never used that thesis anywhere."