The new prime minister nominee is scheduled to undergo confirmation hearings at the National Assembly this week amid controversy over his reported attempt to control press coverage about his eligibility for the job.
Lee Wan-koo, the then floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, was tapped by President Park Geun-hye last month in what is expected to be a small-scale Cabinet reshuffle aimed at regaining public confidence in the administration.
The confirmation hearings, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, are expected to center on the nominee's alleged ethical lapses, including reports he made phone calls to several media firms to stop them from publishing negative reports about him.
Lee faces suspicions that he speculated in real estate, plagiarized his doctoral thesis and intentionally omitted parts of his annual wealth report. Late last month, his second son voluntarily underwent a medical exam in public to prove that he was legitimately exempted from mandatory military service.
On Monday, Lee denied the allegations in a written response to the National Assembly's inquiries.
He claimed that his wife, followed by his second son, has faithfully paid the inheritance tax on a piece of land acquired from his father-in-law in Bundang, just south of Seoul.
On the reasons for buying a high-class apartment in southern Seoul, Lee said he bought it for his family to live in, not for speculation purposes.
He acknowledged that his thesis did not meet the strict ethical standards of today when it comes to citations, but argued that he still wrote the paper independently using his own data and analytical methods.
Lee's nomination is scheduled to be put to a vote during a plenary session on Thursday.
If he fails to win parliamentary approval, Park could face another setback in running state affairs as she has been plagued by a series of unsuccessful personnel nominations.
In recent weeks, her approval rating dropped to 29 percent, her all-time low since taking office two years ago, according to polling agency Gallup Korea. (Yonhap)
