Pohang city council forms special committee for first-ever public institution head confirmation hearing

The Pohang City Council will hold its first-ever confirmation hearing to vet a candidate for the head of a public institution, under an ordinance on confirmation hearings enacted last August.

To that end, the council formed a special confirmation hearing committee at the plenary session of its 334th regular session Monday, electing lawmaker An Byeong-guk as chair and lawmaker An Dae-cheon as vice chair.

The committee comprises nine members in total, including lawmakers Kim Eun-ju, Kim Jae-won, Kim Chang-hui, Park Jeong-suk, Yu Heung-geun, Jeong Jong-sik and Choe Gwang-yeol.

The hearing process was set in motion — the first since the council's founding — after the Pohang mayor requested a confirmation hearing for a candidate to head the Pohang City Facilities Management Corporation.

The special committee held its first meeting that afternoon and finalized a hearing plan. It intends to summon the candidate on Oct. 27 to scrutinize his or her ethics, management capabilities and qualifications as a public official.

After the hearing concludes, the committee will compile a report, present it to the full council on Oct. 30 and then deliver it to the Pohang mayor.

"We will do our utmost to ensure that this confirmation hearing — the first of its kind in our history — thoroughly examines the candidate's expertise, management capacity and qualifications as a public official, and meets the expectations of our citizens," committee chair An said.