Subscribe
E-Paper
 |
| Justice minister nominee Cho Kuk leaves his office, Friday, in central Seoul after announcing he would donate some of his family's assets to society and relinquish ownership of a private education foundation run by his family in response to mounting calls |
Moon's embattled aide fights calls for him to withdraw from nominee consideration
By Do Je-hae
President Moon Jae-in's nominee for justice minister Cho Kuk is determined to fight off mounting calls for him to withdraw from consideration. The politician is facing allegations of corruption involving himself and his family members ahead of a National Assembly confirmation hearing.
The former senior presidential aide for civil affairs announced measures, Friday, to regain public trust amid the wide-ranging suspicions over his family's wealth, in addition to allegations related to his daughter's education and receipt of scholarship money despite her family's wealth and her poor academic performance.
Cho said he will donate all the assets in the names of his wife and children to the underprivileged. "I will donate funds in the names of my wife and children to a public service corporation in accordance with procedures set up by law and use them for the underprivileged who have not benefited from society."
He also mentioned that a private school foundation run by his mother will also undergo transformation to serve a public purpose. "In the future, procedures will take place for the Woondong Foundation to be run by the state or a public foundation," he said, adding that his family will give up all authority over the foundation and its assets. "It will serve the purpose of nurturing future generations."
Public indignation toward Cho has been growing particularly after allegations questioning whether his daughter's admission to Korea University and Pusan National University Graduate School of Medicine were valid. The allegations have enraged students at the schools she attended, with some planning to participate in candlelit rallies to demand the truth about the allegations.
The presidential office, which has stood by Cho despite the widening scandal, called on the National Assembly to quickly start the confirmation hearing to verify the allegations. "The Assembly has the responsibility to open the hearing as soon as possible to provide an occasion for the people to listen to Cho's position," presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said during a press briefing, Friday.
Moon's surprise decision late Thursday to end the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), a military intelligence-sharing pact, with Japan has sparked strong criticism from the opposition. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) claimed that the move was aimed at protecting Moon's embattled former aide Cho Kuk ahead of the Assembly confirmation hearing, due to the widening corruption scandal. The public and the opposition are raising strong doubts about his ethics and credibility to serve in the critical post charged with spearheading Moon's cherished drive for judicial reform.
Cheong Wa Dae denied that the GSOMIA decision had anything to do with the Cho scandal. "It is extremely regrettable that that the opposition is linking the two issues," Ko said.
The main opposition slammed the decision to end the 3-year-old pact, considered a core symbol of Korea-Japan security cooperation, as Cheong Wa Dae's attempt to seek a "political diversion" from the Cho scandal. The allegations involving Cho and his family members, in particular those related to his daughter's university admission, are starting to result in reduced public trust in the President, as seen in his declining approval rating of late.
"The reason behind this totally self-destructive decision is to cover the explosive public indignation and calls for Cho's withdrawal," LKP Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn said during an emergency party meeting Friday. "The GSOMIA is a significant security tool that links Korea, Japan and the U.S," LKP floor leader Rep. Na Kyung-won said. "Ending the GSOMIA shows that the Moon administration is not concerned with the national interest and only focused on its own political gains in future elections." The former law professor at Seoul National University has been considered a symbol of reform in the Moon administration.
