Justice Lee Suk-yeon Nomination Passed in Plenary Session... Controversy Resolved with '3.7 Billion Won Donation'

271 National Assembly Members Vote, 206 in Favor
"Efforts to Improve Women's Rights and Deep AI Expertise"
"5.3 Billion Won Donated Before Nomination, 3.7 Billion Won After Hearing"

The appointment consent bill for Lee Suk-yeon (55, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 26), a nominee for Supreme Court Justice, has passed the plenary session of the National Assembly. Lee was held up from having her confirmation report adopted at the hearing on the 25th of last month due to controversy over her 20-year-old child's "dad's chance stock controversy." Subsequently, she donated unlisted stocks worth about 3.7 billion won held under her family's name to the Youth Happiness Foundation.

The National Assembly's Special Committee on Personnel Hearings held a plenary meeting on the morning of the 5th and adopted the review report on the appointment consent bill for Lee. In the plenary session that afternoon, the appointment consent bill for Lee was approved by a secret ballot with 206 votes in favor, 58 against, and 7 abstentions out of 271 members present. For the appointment consent bill to pass, a majority of the total members (300) must be present, and a majority of those present must vote in favor.

Nominee for Supreme Court Justice Lee Suk-yeon is attentively listening to questions from committee members during the confirmation hearing held by the National Assembly's Special Committee on Personnel Hearings on the morning of the 25th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Park Beom-gye, chairman of the Special Committee on Personnel Hearings, reported to the plenary session the reasons for both qualification and disqualification. Chairman Park stated, "The candidate's daughter earned huge capital gains through gifts from her parents, purchases of unlisted stocks, and transfers among family members," and added, "She also purchased real estate through 'gap investment' using money gifted and loaned by her parents," expressing disqualification concerns. However, he also mentioned qualifications, saying, "As a female judge, she has shown deep interest in improving women's rights, having served as president of the 'Gender Law Research Association,'" and "She has profound knowledge in information and communication technology and artificial intelligence."

Members of the Special Committee on Personnel Hearings evaluated, "Regarding the capital gains from unlisted stocks, the candidate explained that all related taxes such as gift tax and capital gains tax were paid faithfully, and no illegal acts were committed," and "She sincerely apologized to the public, acknowledging that the situation did not meet the public's expectations." They further stated, "Considering comprehensively that the candidate and her family donated or pledged donations amounting to about 5.3 billion won before the nomination and about 3.7 billion won pledged during the hearing, totaling approximately 9 billion won."

Park Beom-gye, the chairman of the Special Committee on Personnel Hearings affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea, is reporting on the review regarding the appointment consent bill for Supreme Court nominee Lee Suk-yeon at the National Assembly plenary session held on the afternoon of the 5th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The candidate's eldest daughter, Ms. A (26), purchased most of the unlisted stocks recommended by her father in 2017 with money gifted by him, then sold half of them back to her father in May last year, earning a capital gain of 380 million won, 63 times the principal, which sparked controversy. In relation to this, the candidate apologized and donated unlisted stocks held by her family worth about 3.7 billion won to the Youth Happiness Foundation on the 27th of last month.

Earlier, on the 1st, the National Assembly passed the appointment consent bills for Supreme Court Justice nominees Noh Kyung-pil (59, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 23) and Park Young-jae (55, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 22) in the plenary session. President Yoon Suk-yeol approved the appointment consent bills for the two nominees on the 2nd.