Another unilateral move
DPK hit for adopting confirmation report
A National Assembly committee has passed a confirmation report on Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister-nominee Byeon Chang-heum. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea s (DPK) 17 lawmakers on the 26-member committee voted for the report Monday amid fierce protests from the opposition People Power Party (PPP).
This is the second time that a confirmation report has been passed in the absence of a bipartisan consensus since the confirmation hearing of Unification Minister-nominee Lee In-young in July. The DPK maintains that there is no problem with Byeon s qualifications.
DPK Rep. Kang Jun-hyun said, Byeon has already given a sincere apology for his past remarks. There could be many problems with the appointment of key officials in the future should they fail to get Assembly approval because of allegations based on speculation.