Prime minister candidate Han Sung-sook answers lawmakers' questions at her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on Friday. [Yonhap]
Prime minister candidate Han Sung-sook answers lawmakers' questions at her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly on Friday. [Yonhap]

Ruling and opposition lawmakers clashed Friday on the second day of the confirmation hearing for prime minister candidate Han Sung-sook, sparring over whether her sale and rental of an officetel unit were appropriate.

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Hee-jung opened the attack at the National Assembly hearing, saying Han had sold the officetel to a hair salon owner at a below-market price. "What kind of acquaintance receives preferential treatment that most people wouldn't even give a sibling?" Kim asked. "Isn't this an indirect gift?"

Fellow PPP lawmaker Kang Seung-gyu joined in, saying there were reasonable grounds to suspect a connection between Han and the salon owner — who had reportedly styled the hair of a former first lady — and that the discounted rent could have been offered in return for that relationship.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee So-young pushed back, saying she was embarrassed by the level of the hearing. "Selling a unit to a tenant who has been renting it is a good thing. What exactly is the problem?" she said.

Democratic Party committee chair Baek Hye-ryeon also weighed in, saying Kim's line of questioning could easily be read as implying a transaction involving the former first lady. "I would prefer the questioning not go in this direction," she said.

Han rebuffed the insinuations, saying the lawmaker needed to be specific about what was allegedly given as a gift and to whom. "You need to state clearly what was gifted and what favor was received," she said, adding that bringing the hair salon into the discussion was "too sensationalist."

The two sides also differed on whether Han was qualified to serve as prime minister.

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Seon-won drew a comparison to soccer, saying people tend to prefer a coach like Guus Hiddink over a player-turned-manager like Hong Myung-bo. "The president chose Han as a candidate precisely because she is a Hiddink — not a typical bureaucrat or professor," Park said. "We hope she lives up to that."

PPP lawmaker Jo Jeong-hun questioned the consistency of Han's positions, saying she seemed like a different person from the Naver chief executive she had been in 2020. "Han Sung-sook in 2020 and prime minister candidate Han Sung-sook in 2026 are saying different things on the same issues — to the point where I wonder if they are the same person," he said. "Back in 2020, she was at the forefront of protecting the freedom of large platform companies."


sunpine@heraldcorp.com