▲ Budget Minister nominee Lee Hye-hoon (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) Lee-budget minister nominee

(2nd LD) Lee withdraws nomination for budget minister amid controversy over personal issues

(ATTN: ADDS rival parties' responses in paras 7-10)

SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung has decided to withdraw his nomination for budget minister amid mounting controversy over the nominee's personal issues, a presidential official said Sunday.

Lee Hye-hoon, a former three-term lawmaker of the opposition bloc, was nominated last month to lead the newly established Ministry of Planning and Budget.

She had since faced various accusations of wrongdoing, including suspicious real estate dealings involving her family and her alleged mistreatment of subordinates.

"President Lee decided after deliberation and serious reflection to withdraw his nomination of Lee," Hong Ihk-pyo, the senior presidential secretary for political affairs, said during a press briefing.

Hong said the president listened carefully to various opinions from diverse sectors of society and closely studied her parliamentary confirmation hearing Friday, as well as the public's assessment since then.

"Unfortunately, she did not meet the public's standards for the minister of planning and budget," the senior secretary said, adding the president will continue to seek national unity through personnel appointments from across the political spectrum.

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) said the withdrawal reflected President Lee's consideration of the public's high standards and emotional sentiment.

"The president has sought national unity through the nomination," said DP spokesperson Park Hae-cheol. "We will work with the government to establish far stricter and fairer standards for appointments to government posts."

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP), however, demanded an apology from the president over what it described as a failed nomination.

"This is a clear disaster and a failure of personnel vetting," PPP floor leader Song Eon-seok said in a Facebook post. "President Lee should sincerely apologize to the people and completely overhaul the personnel vetting system."

The former nominee has been accused of securing the right to purchase a luxury apartment unit in southern Seoul in July 2024 by listing her eldest son -- who had already held a wedding ceremony at the time -- as unmarried, allegedly to increase the number of dependents and raise her family's chances of securing the purchasing right.

Under the current system, applicants for newly built apartments must obtain subscription rights based on multiple criteria, including the number of family members and the length of time they have been without a home.

Lee also came under fire over allegations that her husband engaged in real estate speculation by purchasing large tracts of land near Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, about a year before the airport officially opened in 2001, and for her past remarks in support of former President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief imposition of martial law in December 2024.

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