Kim In-cheol, a candidate for deputy prime minister and education minister, announced his voluntary resignation today (3rd).



It has been 20 days since I was nominated as a candidate on the 13th of last month.



Candidate Kim met with reporters in front of the Yeouido Educational Safety Facility building where the personnel hearing preparation office was set up today and said, "I am resigning my candidacy as deputy prime minister and education minister today." did," he said.



"I will not give any explanation," he added, adding that "it is all my negligence and my fault."



Candidate Kim said, "There is no way I can contain my regrets to President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, who trusted me and entrusted me with a heavy responsibility."



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Candidate Kim left without answering reporters' questions about the controversy.



As candidate Kim resigned voluntarily, it became the first case of falling out among candidates for government minister Yoon Seok-yeol.



Immediately after the nomination, suspicions arose such as 'dad chance' and 'husband chance', as it was revealed that Kim's wife, son, and daughter both received a Fulbright scholarship to work or study at an American university.



The Fulbright Scholarship is a scholarship program operated by the U.S. Department of State in cooperation with governments in 160 countries around the world.



In Korea, the Korea-US Education Commission is in charge of running programs such as selecting scholarship students, and the Korean government contributed 3.9 billion won to the commission last year.



The United States is known to have contributed 1.9 billion won.



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Candidate Kim received a Fulbright Scholarship from 1996 to 1997 and served as a visiting professor in the United States, and served as president of the Fulbright Korea Alumni Association from January 2012 to December 2015.



He is also serving as a director of the Korea-US Education and Culture Foundation, which was founded by the alumni association.



From 2004 to 2005, while serving as a professor at Soongsil University, Mr. Lee, the spouse of candidate Kim, received support from the Fulbright Scholarship Program and went to Temple University as an exchange professor.



Her daughter received a Fulbright Scholarship for her 2014-2016 Cornell Master's program and her son's 2016-2018 Columbia University Master's program.



Candidate Kim also had a conflict with the student council during his tenure as the president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and was criticized for 'inconsistent administration' by speaking bad words to students.



In addition, various allegations such as embezzlement of school funds, plagiarism of thesis, and suspicion that his military service period and master's period overlapped, predicted the possibility of falling out.



(Photo = Yonhap News)