Will the controversial Byun Chang-Hum break the ‘Death Note of Justice’?

On the 23rd, a personal audience will be held on candidate Byeon Chang-heum, Minister of Lands, Infrastructure and Transport, who is surrounded by various suspicions. Even within the ruling party, concerns about suspicions about candidate Byeon were deepening, and the opposition party chose Byeon as the ‘Nakma No. 1’ in this shakeup. In particular, the Justice Party, which is famous for its “death note,” on candidates for an inappropriate audience of the National Assembly staff, plans to reach a final conclusion after seeing the day’s hearing. Candidate Byeon’s clarifications in the audience are attracting more attention.

◆ Controversy over successive narratives, such as the last words to ‘Guui Station Kim Gun’

The biggest criticism towards candidate Byun comes from the “latest controversy” about Guui-eok Kim Gun and others. Candidate Byun said: “If he (victim Kim Gun) had paid little attention to the accident that occurred in 2016 when he was president of the Seoul Urban Housing Corporation (SH), it could have been as if nothing had happened.” It was pointed out that it is “inappropriate” not only in the opposition but also in civil society organizations and government parties.

Regarding the occupants of SH’s shared house, he said: “Do people who do not live eat rice at home or do they say they are crazy?” Regarding candidate Byun, who showed a lack of empathy for the socially weak, Justice Party lawmaker Sang-jeong Shim said, “Public anger is growing due to the misrepresentation of candidate Byeon in the past. Only when the public understanding and forgiveness of the grieving family is established, will the Justice Party change the candidate Byeon as a candidate for minister. I can admit it, “he nailed.

Candidate Byeon said, “I am sorry for causing concern to people in the public” and “I sincerely apologize to those who have been injured.” However, the controversy has yet to fade.

The Justice Party has the policy of deciding whether to include candidate Byeon’s name in the ‘Death Note’ after hearing the hearing that day. Death Note refers to a list of candidates for high-ranking public office that the Justice Party deemed ineligible for the Moon Jae-in administration. Minister candidates such as Ahn Kyung-hwan (Ministry of Justice), Cho Dae-yeop (Ministry of Employment and Labor), Park Seong-jin (Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), Choi Jeong-ho (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation) and Cho Dong-ho (Ministry of Science and Technology, Information and Communication) raised the ‘Death Note’ and ultimately fell.

◆ “Paratrooper Recruitment”, “Gangnam Apartment, which is a glorious mountain”

Suspicion of being the president of SH or Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), such as ‘Parachute greetings’, is also holding back candidate Byun. Representative Lee Jong-bae, the people’s power, argued that seven out of nine senior seniors employed by SH were filled with former students and acquaintances.

Representative Kim Eun-hye from the same party raised additional suspicions, saying that at least 18 of the 52 newly appointed during the president’s presidency were entangled with candidate Byun through personal and academic connections. In this regard, candidate Byeon explained that “I have never made an unfair greeting”, but the controversy has not subsided.

Suspicions related to personal matters, such as real estate and family matters, are also indispensable. Representative Song Eon-seok, the People’s Power, pointed out that when Byeon bought an apartment in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul in 2006, he received a loan from a credit card company, about 300 million won, or 57% of the sale price, and bought it with the so-called ‘Youngcle’.

There were also suspicions that the eldest daughter submitted a bogus boarding school career to the National Museum of Korea while advancing to Yale University. Representative Jeong Dong-man from the same party argued that Byeon’s daughter had been an intern at the museum when he was an ineligible high school student and called ‘making a childhood career’. Despite the eldest daughter stating that candidate Byeon had volunteered with a civil society group related to the academic plan presented upon entering high school, it was argued that she had written a “parenting opportunity.”

In addition to the suspicions raised simultaneously thus, concerns deepened within the Democratic Party. Officially, the party’s keynote is that candidate Byeon’s controversy and political capabilities must be considered separately. However, some party members said: “There are many parts that span the line of public sentiment and there are problems with perception as a civil servant.”

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