‘Admission at Age 5’ Controversy Spreads... Opposition Demands “Park Soon-ae’s Voluntary Resignation and Complete Cancellation”

All-Out Opposition from Education Sector, Parents, and Civic Groups
Opposition Party Forces Appointments Without Hearings, Yoon Government's Relentless Offensive
Minister Resignation, Policy Nullification, Demand for Hearings

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The opposition parties have called for the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education Park Soon-ae and the complete withdrawal of the 'Revised School Entry Age Policy for Age 5'. Amid widespread backlash from the education sector, parents, and civic groups, the Democratic Party of Korea launched a fierce offensive, blaming the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's 'forceful appointment without hearings'.

On the 2nd, Kim Seong-hwan, chairman of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, said at the floor countermeasure meeting, "Minister Park is a 'department store of corruption' with drunk driving, plagiarism, and illegal admission consulting. There is no way the policy to lower the school entry age, which was suddenly announced by such a minister, will gain public trust." He added, "We urge her to take responsibility for this sudden policy and immorality and resign voluntarily. President Yoon should also bow his head and apologize for this chaos."

There were also calls for a hearing process to be held even now. At the first full meeting of the Education Committee in the second half of the National Assembly, Representative Ahn Min-seok said, "A standing committee meeting equivalent to a hearing for the Minister of Education should be held as soon as possible," adding, "If it is a standing committee that considers education, this is a necessary procedure."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Park Hong-geun, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 2nd and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

The Democratic Party believes that the Yoon Seok-yeol administration brought about this chaos by forcibly appointing Minister Park, who was embroiled in controversies including drunk driving, plagiarism, holding concurrent positions, and illegal admission consulting. They see this as an example of authoritarian governance following prosecution-biased personnel appointments, private hiring, the police bureau incident, and the text message scandal. Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won criticized on the radio, "How can you suddenly report to the president about lowering the school entry age to 5 without any communication with the public?" and added, "You can't talk about such education policies without having a drink." He was pointing to Minister Park's drunk driving record that was controversial during her personnel screening.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Min-jung, a member of the Education Committee, also appeared on the radio and said, "Age 5 is just before language ability, social skills, and thinking ability are fully developed," adding, "If these children go to school, they have to open textbooks and sit through 40-minute classes, but their concentration and abilities are not yet mature enough, so this is a kind of coercion." She criticized, "This is a matter that should be decided after reviewing broad social changes such as labor market and employment issues, but it was just rushed through."