Jung Ho-young "Why do they keep demanding my resignation... He probably wanted to attend the school his father graduated from"

Jung Ho-young, nominee for Minister of Health and Welfare.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Jeong Ho-young, the nominee for Minister of Health and Welfare, denied any special favors in the process of his children transferring to the medical school at Kyungpook National University (KNU), explaining, "They probably wanted to go to the school their father graduated from."

On the morning of the 15th, as Jeong arrived at the office set up in the National Pension Service building in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, to prepare for the National Assembly confirmation hearing, he responded to reporters' questions regarding the controversy over his children's medical school transfer with the above statement.

When pointed out that transferring his children to the school while serving as hospital director could be seen as an 'implicit request,' he retorted, "If a father who is a university professor cannot send his children to that university, does that mean Seoul National University professors cannot send their children to Seoul National University?"

He also stated that there was no problem with both the special transfer admission that his son passed and his son's participation as a co-author in two papers indexed in the Korean Citation Index (KCI). He said, "The supervising professor of the papers my son participated in has already retired. I understand he is quite elderly, and our school’s medical and engineering colleges are physically quite far apart."

Regarding the 'special admission' his son applied for being newly established in the year he transferred, he replied, "An explanation will be provided soon."

When asked about voluntary resignation, Jeong showed some displeasure, saying, "Why do you keep telling me to resign? I will clarify everything during the confirmation hearing."

Jeong’s daughter and son were admitted to KNU Medical School’s transfer program in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Controversy arose after it was confirmed that they had volunteered at Kyungpook National University Hospital and submitted this as part of their transfer application.

According to materials submitted by KNU to Kim Won-i, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, Jeong’s daughter, who passed the 2017 KNU Medical School transfer admission in December 2016, wrote in her personal statement that she volunteered at KNU Hospital from January 11 to 15 and July 25 to 29 of that year. His son also wrote that he volunteered at KNU Hospital during the same periods in 2016.

These scores were included in the document screening evaluation at the time. Jeong held the position of medical director, a deputy director-level post, at KNU Hospital during 2015?2016 when his two children volunteered there. He was later appointed hospital director in August 2017.

Meanwhile, the office of President-elect Yoon Seok-youl stated, "Nominee Jeong himself appears very confident and believes he can explain everything clearly," adding, "We plan to observe carefully until the verification process takes place in the National Assembly."