National Assembly Education Committee Hearing
Testimony from within the Ministry of Education has surfaced at a National Assembly hearing, alleging that the presidential office under President Yoon Suk-yeol pressured civil servants to select an organization affiliated with the far-right education group Libax School as the lead agency for the Neulbom School program. Shin Moonkyu, former Education Secretary at the presidential office, was identified as the person who exerted this pressure.
Soojung Lee, former Policy Advisor to the Minister of Education, is responding to questions at the Libak School hearing held by the National Assembly Education Committee on the 10th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim
Kim Youngho, chair of the National Assembly Education Committee, stated at the Libax School hearing held at the National Assembly on July 10, "There have been reports that officials at the Ministry of Education were pressured during the application process for the Neulbom School program lead agency, in which Glory Social Cooperative, chaired by Son Hyosook of Libax School, participated."
Kim Chunhong, Director-General of the Neulbom Support Bureau at the Ministry of Education, who oversaw the Neulbom School project, said, "Ahead of the evaluation for the selection of the lead agency, I received a request from the presidential office's Education Secretary to 'take good care of Glory Social Cooperative.' It felt like pressure."
Chairman Kim pointed out regarding Secretary Shin, who was identified as the person who pressured Director-General Kim, "The Education Secretary is not in a position to issue instructions without confirming the president's intentions."
In response, Director-General Kim said, "After receiving that request, I checked and found that the evaluation process was conducted fairly, and the results were very unfavorable for them. When I said they would be eliminated based on the evaluation results, there was pressure during that process." After Glory Cooperative was eliminated from the selection, CEO Son supplied instructors for the Neulbom program by signing a business agreement with Seoul National University of Education through the Korea Neulbom Education Association.
Director-General Kim also testified that he was pressured by Soojung Lee, former Policy Advisor to the Ministry of Education, and CEO Son to have the Together Happiness Education Volunteer Group sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry. Lee is known to have recommended Son Hyosook, CEO of Libax School, as an advisory member to the Ministry of Education.
Former advisor Lee denied the allegation, saying, "I did not exert any pressure. I did not ask anyone to help." However, Director-General Kim stated, "In May of last year, I received an instruction from former advisor Lee to sign the MOU." In response, Lee explained, "As an advisor, I do not have the authority to instruct ministry officials, so it does not make sense to say I gave instructions. At the time, the head of the Together Happiness Education Volunteer Group was my senior in college and had requested a business agreement with the Ministry of Education, so I only relayed the request to the relevant department."
Chairman Kim Youngho then remarked, "Is it reasonable for a project operator to send text messages to the highest-ranking director at the Ministry of Education and pressure them to sign an MOU? Whether you knew or ignored it, what citizen would believe that the Minister of Education has no connection to Libax School?" "Even at this moment, the Minister of Education is being irresponsible. Regardless of whether it is a matter of ethics, if this kind of controversy has arisen, you should apologize to the public," he urged.
Lee Juho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, who is responsible for the matter, bowed his head and said, "I apologize to the public."
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