Oh Young-joo, candidate for Minister of SMEs and Startups, is answering questions from lawmakers at a personnel hearing held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the morning of the 21st. /News 1
At the National Assembly’s confirmation hearing for Oh Young-joo, the candidate for Minister of SMEs and Startups, the Democratic Party of Korea focused on “candidate Oh’s husband,” who is from the presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol’s camp. Even though Candidate Oh herself passed the Foreign Service Examination and held a major position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and even served as the second vice minister in charge of economic diplomacy, the Democratic Party made statements to the effect of ‘Isn’t she a candidate thanks to her husband?’ and ‘If she becomes a minister, isn’t she receiving coaching from her husband?’ Questions and remarks poured out one after another. There was criticism that it degraded women and revealed male supremacist views.
At the confirmation hearing for Candidate Oh of the Trade, Energy, Small and Medium Venture Business Committee held at the National Assembly on the 21st, Lee Yong-bin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said, “It seems that the candidate is very proud of the life she has lived while breaking the glass ceiling.” “You don’t want it to be disparaged that you achieved this by being coached by someone, right?” he asked.
Candidate Oh immediately responded, “I haven’t lived like that.”
Candidate Oh’s husband, Jang Seok-myeong, served as Lee Myung-bak’s secretary for public service discipline at the Blue House and as an expert member of the presidential transition committee for Yoon Seok-yeol.
Candidate Oh is a 22nd graduate of the Foreign Service Examination and is called a ‘UN expert’ within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who has been in charge of multilateral diplomacy, including international organizations and development cooperation. He served as Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and oversaw ‘economic diplomacy’. Under the Second Vice Minister are the Economic and Diplomatic Coordinator and the International Economic Bureau.
Lee Yong-bin, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea. /News 1
But Rep. Lee did not stop.
He asked again, “The reason why she was suddenly appointed as the Minister of SMEs and Startups is because she was coached by her husband and has confidence that she can carry out the ministerial duties, right?”
Candidate Oh said, “That can’t possibly happen, and I didn’t live my public life like that.”
Rep. Kim Seong-hwan of the same party said, “Candidate Oh shows an example that even though he has no connection to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, he can become a minister if he is close to the powerful people in this government.” Democratic Party Rep. Hong Jeong-min also said, “We should extend the parachute to someone who can open it, but Candidate Oh has surpassed that level. “I think she was nominated because of her husband,” he said. Representative Jeong Cheong-rae said, “Because Candidate Oh came to the wrong Ministry of SMEs and Startups instead of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, people are questioning whether she owes it to her husband.”
The ruling party responded, “The Democratic Party has once again revealed its derogatory views on women.” People Power Party lawmaker Cheol-gyu Lee said, “It is an insulting remark to say that what a woman achieved through her own efforts was achieved by her spouse,” and countered, “Aren’t women unable to work without the help of their male spouse?” Rep. Kim Seong-won of the same party also said, “The candidate should receive a fair evaluation of the work he has done for the country for 35 years. “Didn’t she work independently from her husband?” he pointed out.
People Power Party lawmaker Choi Hyeong-du criticized, “How can this happen when the opposition party, the media, and the public all say, ‘Let’s destroy Seo Oh-nam (a man in his 50s who graduated from Seoul National University),’ and accuse her of benefiting from her husband because she is a female minister.” .
Candidate Oh refuted that there was no help from his spouse in the process of selecting the Minister of SMEs and Startups. He said, “I don’t think our society is one where women can’t work without the help of their male spouse.” She continued, “Especially because I was at the forefront as a female diplomat, I lived with a sense of responsibility that everything I did could have an impact on my female juniors.”
Some also pointed out that “the ministers of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups during the Moon Jae-in administration were also far from professional.” Former Minister Park Young-sun was a journalist and former member of the National Assembly, and former Minister Kwon Chil-seung was a former administrative officer in President Roh Moo-hyun’s secretariat. Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Hyun-mi, one of the people responsible for the failure of the Moon Jae-in administration’s real estate policy, was also far from expertise in real estate or transportation.
2023-12-21 23:28:51
#female #ministerial #candidate #public #servant #entire #life…野 #Nominated #husband #husband #coach
