Ahn Cheolsoo Criticizes Appointment of Hwiyoung Choi as Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism
"President Lee Jaemyung's Longstanding Affection for Naver"
Concerns Grow Over Multiple Naver Affiliates in Key Government Posts
Ahn Cheolsoo, a member of the People Power Party who has declared his candidacy for party leader, on July 11 criticized Hwiyoung Choi, CEO of Nol Universe and nominee for Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, saying, "President Lee Jaemyung's affection for Naver has been longstanding."
Ahn Cheolsoo, a member of the People Power Party and head of the Innovation Committee, is holding a press conference on the 7th at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, announcing his resignation as committee head and his intention to run in the party convention. Photo by Yonhap News
Previously, Jungwoo Ha, former head of the Naver Cloud AI Innovation Center, was appointed as Chief of Future Planning for Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the Presidential Office, and Sungsook Han, who served as Naver's first female CEO, was nominated as Minister of SMEs and Startups. Following this, with CEO Choi being nominated as Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, there has been growing commentary that the Lee Jaemyung administration is notably appointing many figures with backgrounds at Naver.
On this day, Ahn posted on Facebook under the title "Naver Again?" and remarked, "After nominating a former Naver executive as a senior secretary at the Presidential Office and another as Minister of SMEs and Startups, yet another person with Naver experience has now been appointed as Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism."
He continued, "President Lee Jaemyung's fondness for Naver is nothing new. There was even a Naver-affiliated figure implicated in the Seongnam FC sponsorship scandal," he pointed out.
The Seongnam FC sponsorship scandal refers to allegations that, during President Lee's tenure as mayor of Seongnam, companies such as Naver and Doosan were granted favorable land use changes and, in return, made large donations to Seongnam FC.
Ahn further raised suspicions, stating, "Coincidentally, Doosan, which was also named in that case, has had an executive appointed as Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy. Is this not a form of repayment for the 'close sponsorship' that has continued from the Naver and Doosan, Seongnam FC case?"
The People Power Party's Special Media Committee also issued a statement on the same day criticizing President Lee's frequent appointment of former Naver personnel. The committee pointed out, "If the head of a news platform operator, who must remain politically neutral, is repeatedly appointed by a specific administration, it is only natural for concerns about bias to arise."
Meanwhile, Kang Hunsik, Chief Presidential Secretary, explained the rationale for nominating Choi, stating, "(Nominee Choi) has a diverse background, including experience as a journalist, head of an online portal, and founder of a travel platform," and introduced him as "a new CEO in the field of culture, sports and tourism who will realize the President's vision of ushering in the era of a 300 trillion won K-culture market, based on private-sector expertise and innovation."
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