◀ anchor ▶
The fact that Kim Seong-hoe, secretary for religious multiculturalism in the presidential office of the Yoon Seok-yeol government, said, “Are you saying, “Are you saying, even if it was delayed,” at the time of the comfort women agreement between Korea and Japan in 2015?
In a recent press column, Secretary Kim praised President Yun’s wife, Kim Kun-hee, as “Princess Pyeonggang,” raising controversy over praise.
There is a growing number of criticisms regarding poor personnel verification.
Reporter Lee Ki-joo reports.
◀ Report ▶
On December 26, last year, when First Lady Kim Gun-hee apologized to the public, saying, “I inflated my career to look good” for allegations of false history.
This is a column published in the Freedom Daily, founded on the same day by Pastor Kwang-Hoon Jeon of Sarang First Church.
He compared Mrs. Kim to Princess Pyeonggang, saying, “CEO Kim Gun-hee’s support was absolute until the elderly rural prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol became the presidential candidate with the highest chance of winning.”
The column was written by Kim Seong-hoe, an editorial member of the Freedom Daily at the time.
He was selected as the secretary for religious multiculturalism in the presidential office on the 6th.
On December 21 of last year, it was the first interview with Ms. Kim, and there was a controversy over her appearance, praising her appearance, saying, “I opened my eyes as soon as I saw her, and she was such a young woman that I might hardly see her at the age of 50.”
It was later revealed that Secretary Kim, who had done so, commented on the Park Geun-hye administration’s agreement on comfort women between Korea and Japan in 2015, saying, “Are you saying that the government should step in and accept the delayed payment?”
In 2019, it was also revealed that he had posted a post titled “Homosexuality is a type of mental illness.”
Criticism from politicians continued that a person who made hateful and discriminatory remarks should not be in public office.
[이수진/더불어민주당 의원 (우측)]
“Are you paying extra for the comfort women compensation? Discrimination and hatred are really very heinous.”
[장태수/정의당 대변인]
“It is not integration to have a person who can’t pay back the comfort women victims to the president’s office.”
Secretary Kim apologized through SNS, saying that the remarks regarding the comfort women were “excessive” and that the reference to homosexual psychosis was “acknowledging that there were hateful remarks.”
However, a high-ranking official at the presidential office said, “It was before the appointment of the secretary, so it is not a matter to express my intentions.”
After Lee Si-won, a former prosecutor who was disciplined for spying on public officials in Seoul, was appointed secretary for public service discipline, and even the multicultural secretary was embroiled in a controversy over the disrespect of the comfort women, voices of criticism regarding whether the personnel verification was appropriate are also coming from inside the presidential office.
This is Lee Ki-joo from MBC News.
Video coverage: Koo Bon-won / Video editing: Kim Jin-woo
MBC News awaits your report 24 hours a day.
▷ Tel 02-784-4000
▷ Email mbcjebo@mbc.co.kr
▷ KakaoTalk @mbc report
