SEOUL — Supreme Court justice nominee Lee Suk-yeon issued an apology regarding her daughter's substantial earnings from stock investments, which have raised public concern over potential impropriety.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee's daughter, Cho, achieved a 63-fold profit by selling shares she had bought with her father's money, leading to accusations of unethical wealth transfer within the family. The shares, initially purchased for 6 million won in 2017, were sold to her father for about 385 million won last May. The transactions, while legal, have been criticized as a method of passing wealth to children under favorable tax conditions.
In response to the controversy, Lee expressed regret over not addressing family-related issues earlier. She announced that her family would donate the contentious stocks to charity and that her husband would resign from his executive roles at Jeju Semiconductor and DongHang Lottery to avoid any conflict of interest during her confirmation process. Lee's confirmation hearing is scheduled for Thursday.