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| ▲ This photo, provided by the Supreme Court, shows Lee Suk-yeon, a patent court judge running to become a Supreme Court justice. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Supreme Court justice-apology
Supreme Court justice nominee apologizes over daughter's massive profit from stock investment
SEOUL, July 24 (Yonhap) -- Supreme Court justice nominee Lee Suk-yeon apologized Wednesday over revelations that her daughter had earned a 63-fold profit by selling shares to her father after purchasing them with his money.
Lee has been under fire after allegations surfaced that her 26-year-old daughter, surnamed Cho, was found to have sold 400 shares of the cosmetics R&D firm stock to her father for about 385 million won (US$277,636) in May last year after buying them for just 6 million won in 2017 when she was 19.
Cho allegedly purchased the stocks with money mostly gifted from her father and also inherited her money to pay off the capital gains tax, as well as the gift tax for the inheritance.
These transactions are seen by critics as a tactic to bequeath wealth to children, albeit not unlawful.
Lee had initially said the profit her daughter made from the transactions amounted to 220 million won, but it was later found to be much bigger.
In a statement released Wednesday, Lee apologized, saying she admits it is her fault that she had failed to "look into issues surrounding her family and deal with them beforehand."
Lee said she decided with her family to donate the stocks in question owned by her husband and her eldest daughter to charity.
"I realized that although there are no legal problems concerned, it does not adhere to the standards of the people nor with sound values," she added.
Lee also said her husband decided to resign from his position as president of two companies, Jeju Semiconductor and DongHang Lottery, to prevent any misunderstandings or obstacles during the nominee's time in public service.
The parliamentary confirmation hearing for Lee is slated for Thursday.
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