Woo Sangho: "Public Opinion on Some Ministerial Nominees Is Negative... Reported to President Lee"

"Kang Sunwoo Nominee's Explanations Under Multilateral Review... Public Perspective Is Key"
"No Special Instructions from President Lee... Only Receiving Reports"

As suspicions surrounding Minister of Gender Equality and Family nominee Kang Sunwoo and Minister of Education nominee Lee Jinsook continue to spread, Woo Sangho, Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs, stated, "I have reported to President Lee Jaemyung that public opinion regarding some of the ministerial nominees is turning very negative."

Yonhap News

On the 16th, during an interview with the YouTube channel 'Ohmy TV,' Woo made these remarks and said, regarding the ongoing confirmation hearings for the ministerial nominees, "We are comprehensively monitoring various situations."

Regarding the confirmation hearing task force (TF) led by the Office of Political Affairs, Woo explained, "Although it is called a TF, in reality, it functions much like a situation room," adding, "We collect and organize all issues raised by the media and civic groups about the ministerial nominees, and compile these findings into written reports for the President."

He further explained that they are closely examining whether the various suspicions can be adequately addressed. Woo stated, "It is indeed our goal that the nominees designated by the President are appointed as ministers without issues," adding, "We are carefully monitoring whether the various trends and the suspicions raised against each nominee can be explained."

Regarding Kang Sunwoo, who has been embroiled in ongoing 'abuse of power' controversies, Woo said, "We are closely analyzing the issues raised during the hearings and evaluating whether the explanations were appropriate," adding, "The perspective of the public is also important. We are reviewing the matter from multiple angles." He also commented on Lee Jinsook, who is facing allegations of plagiarism and controversy over her second daughter's early study abroad, saying, "We are continuously monitoring the situation. We are collecting and organizing all the information."

Meanwhile, Woo stated that there have been no special instructions or remarks from President Lee regarding the confirmation hearings. He said, "There have been no special directives so far. The President is simply receiving reports."