'We will strengthen the vetting system so it meets the public's expectations'

Yong Hye-in, nominee for minister of gender equality and family, answers reporters' questions as she arrives at her confirmation hearing preparation office at the Korea Youth Activity Promotion Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Photo by Lim Se-jun]
Yong Hye-in, nominee for minister of gender equality and family, answers reporters' questions as she arrives at her confirmation hearing preparation office at the Korea Youth Activity Promotion Agency in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Photo by Lim Se-jun]

Amid growing controversy over Justice Minister Kim Seung-won and Minister of Gender Equality and Family nominee Yong Hye-in, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday that both must go through the confirmation hearing process as a matter of principle.

A Cheong Wa Dae official met with reporters in Paris on Monday (local time), while President Lee Jae Myung was on a state visit to France, and said the confirmation hearing system "is itself a process of public vetting of nominees." The official added that because the nominees "were named through the personnel system under the responsibility of the personnel committee chair, they must go through the confirmation hearings."

The official went on to say that the administration "will put in place and further strengthen the personnel vetting system so that it meets the public's expectations."

In addition, regarding media reports that the Democratic Party of Korea's leadership had conveyed to Cheong Wa Dae that Yong was unfit for the post, the official drew a line, saying the reports contained information "we have not been able to confirm, and nothing in particular has been confirmed."


sang@heraldcorp.com