The nominee for agriculture, food and rural affairs minister submitted copied answers of incumbent minister

Song Mi-ryeong, nominee for Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, listens to questions from lawmakers during her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul on Monday. Yonhap News

Song Mi-ryung, the nominee for agriculture, food and rural affairs minister, was criticized for "copying and pasting" the incumbent Minister Chung Hwang-keun’s answers when he was a candidate in a written answer she submitted to the National Assembly's hearing on the nominee on December 18. Song said, "I sincerely apologize for this.”

At National Assembly's hearing on the appointee, Song said, "I sincerely apologize" for submitting the exact same answers that incumbent Minister Chung did when he was a candidate. She also added that "I couldn’t prepare for the hearing well because I did not have enough time for reviewing all materials and thinking about the questions.” The question in controversy was about the candidate's philosophy on agriculture.

Lee Won-taek, a lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party, said during the hearing, “I requested a written answer about the same question to both Chung and Song, and Song submitted the exact same answer with Chung,” adding, "This is not a proper answer to the question and hope the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs to properly prepare the materials for the hearing.”

Ahn Byung-gil, a lawmaker of the ruling People's Power Party, also pointed out that "this cannot happen with common sense." Song said that "It is totally my fault, and I apologize for this once again."

Meanwhile, Song said she agrees with the ending of eating dog meat during the confirmation hearing. When Ahn asked, "Do you agree with the act of banning dog meat?" and Song replied, "Of course I do."

Currently, the bill, which has been voted on by the opposition party alone, includes a provision requiring government support to prepare livelihood measures for workers such as farmers, slaughterhouses, distributors, and restaurants.

On the issue of compensation, Song said, "I will support as much as I can within the reasonable range, but I think mandatory compensation is excessive.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.