Education minister nominated to face tough hearing amid allegations, escalating partisan conflict

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Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister nominee Lee Ju-ho speaks to the press on his way to the office at the Korea Institute of Educational Facility Safety in Seoul on Sept. 30. (Yonhap)

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister nominee Lee Ju-ho will be challenged over inappropriate funding, past education policies and more at a confirmation hearing slated for Friday.

In addition to the allegations, the ongoing investigation concerning key figures in the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which brought the parliamentary audit to a halt, appears likely to affect the confirmation hearing process.

If Lee takes the post, Lee will be returning to the post after some 10 years and the Education Ministry will have a new head after the previous minister Park Soon-ae left the position in August.

For the past few weeks, Lee has been attacked for receiving inappropriate funds and having ties with edutech companies.

Lee has been a strong advocate of artificial intelligence-assisted education, arguing for the introduction of more tech tools in classrooms. It was recently revealed he received political funds from figures in the edutech industry while running for the Seoul education superintendent position last year.

Additionally, Education Commission Asia, a committee which Lee was the chairman of before being nominated for the post, received funding worth 300 million won ($208,622) from an edutech company.

Though Lee has explained that all of the funds were duly received and he would never represent the interests of certain groups as the minister of education, Lee will likely be questioned over having inappropriate ties with the company at the hearing.

Lee was also accused of encouraging the widening gap in private education expenses while he was the head of the now-split Ministry of Education, Science and Technology during the Lee Myung-bak administration,

Though Lee pushed for the diversification of secondary education, launching new types of high schools such as autonomous private high schools, he was viewed the rush for elite high schools led to the regression of general high schools.

Like many ministers and minister nominees, his family matters will also be questioned at the hearing.

Kim In-chul, who was first nominated as the Education Minister under the Yoon Suk-yeol admiration, stepped down from the confirmation process after allegations surrounding him and his family members were raised.

The nationality of Lees daughter has created a controversy here, where dual nationality can be frowned upon at.

Lees daughter decided to keep her US citizenship while he was the vice minister at the Education Ministry in 2010. She is currently a professor at a university in the US.

Lee was also accused of having his daughter participate in a research paper project led by him at the Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management.

He explained his daughter participated in the paper as a fellow scholar and they did not receive public funds on the project except for the KDI scholarship.

By Im Eun-byel ([email protected])

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