Minister picks under fire

[Anchor]

Allegations against candidate Kang Sun-woo regarding abuse of power and allegations of plagiarism against candidate Lee Jin-sook are among the various issues raised ahead of the confirmation hearings for the ministerial candidates.

Reporter Kim Yoo-dae has the story.

[Report]

Kang Sun-woo, the candidate for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, is accused of having her aides dispose of household trash and check a broken toilet.

With a record of replacing aides 46 times over five years coming to light, the opposition is intensifying its attacks.

Candidate Kang maintains that the allegations are not true, but a Democratic Party aide stated in a call with KBS that it is a "well-known fact," and a former aide from Kang's office expressed reluctance to testify, saying, "I am worried I won't be able to work in the National Assembly again."

[Hwang Jeong-ah/Democratic Party Spokesperson: "Since only one side's opinion is being reported in the media, we need to hear the party's explanation during the confirmation hearing..."]

Lee Jin-sook, the candidate for Minister of Education, has come under scrutiny for allegations of plagiarism in her thesis.

She is criticized for having her thesis match a student's thesis, including typos and grammatical errors, leading to accusations of "stealing a student's thesis."

The Democratic Party leadership has defended her, stating, "It seems there is no problem at all," and candidate Lee has said she will explain during the confirmation hearing.

[Joo Jin-woo/People Power Party Member/July 9: "This is a very serious issue. Since she is the minister in charge of overseeing thesis plagiarism..."]

In the case of Jeong Eun-kyeong, the candidate for Minister of Health and Welfare, the primary issue to clarify is the allegation that her spouse purchased stocks related to hand sanitizers while she was in charge of COVID-19 prevention as the head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

[Jeong Eun-kyeong/Minister of Health and Welfare Candidate/June 30: "There are many inaccuracies in the reports, so I will clarify the facts during the confirmation process...."]

Candidates Jeong Dong-young and Jeong Seong-ho are facing conflict of interest controversies related to solar power support and border area development legislation.

Allegations of moral issues, such as drunk driving records and improper gifting, have also emerged without fail.

This is KBS News, Kim Yoo-dae.