Lee withdraws nomination for education minister nominee

▲ Education Minister nominee Lee Jin-sook attends a parliamentary confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul on July 16, 2025. (Yonhap)

Lee-education minister nominee

Lee withdraws nomination for education minister nominee

SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Jae Myung has decided to withdraw his nomination of Education Minister nominee Lee Jin-sook, the presidential office said Sunday, following allegations of unlawfully sending her daughter to study abroad at an early age.

Taking into consideration various opinions, Lee deeply reviewed the nomination, presidential secretary for political affairs Woo Sang-ho told a press briefing, calling for the National Assembly to swiftly take follow-up measures.

Lee's second daughter, now 33, was sent to study in the United States in 2007, when she was in her third year of middle school, in violation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that stipulates compulsory education up to middle school.

During her confirmation hearing, Lee said she was "sincerely sorry" but emphasized that she was not aware at the time that her actions violated the law.

Lee, meanwhile, also faced allegations of academic plagiarism but dismissed such a claim, saying that media reports were based on a misunderstanding of the academic context.

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