For Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups which was newly established on Jul. 26, President Moon Jae-in and Cheongwadae appointed Professor Park Sung-jin (ME) as the first minister. However, unexpected controversies were aroused, firstly because of the fact that he worked as the chairman of the association of Creation Research. Prof. Park was criticized for believing in such ‘pseudoscience’ while being a professor, receiving much objection from scientific circles. Another controversy came from his historical view of New Right. His research papers comment on ‘founded in 1948’ which accords to New Right historical background. Also, in a colloquium hosted by Prof. Park, Professor Lee Yeong-hoon who studies New Right was invited, and a famous conservative disputant, Byun Hee-jae, was appointed as the lecturer. There were critics that it was inappropriate for a conservative to be appointed as the minister in Moon Jae-in’s liberal government.
Cheongwadae responded that “personal belief is not a correct standard for verification and Prof. Park is not an agitator of conservatism, but simply carries such ideology as a motto for his livelihood.”
However, Prof. Park received ‘unqualified’ from the verification hearing. The Minjoo, the ruling party of Moon Jae-in’s government, commented that “it is questionable whether Prof. Park has the ability of critical thinking as a scholar.” The Liberal Korean Party criticized Prof. Park for his false resident registration, illegal stock dealing, and various other more irregularities. In reply, Prof. Park voluntarily resigned from the minister candidate on Sep. 15, four days after the hearing that “it is hard to agree with the part that I lack of professionalism, but I will conform the will of National Assembly and citizens.”