[Person of interest of the week] Lee Yong-cheol, ‘nominated candidate for Attorney General’, and Jensen Hwang, who ‘resigned after having an affair’

Last week (November 8-13), readers' attention was focused on Defense Acquisition Program Administration Director Lee Yong-cheol, who was nominated as the Lee Jae-myung administration's second candidate for Minister of Justice, and founder Jensen Hwang, who resigned as CEO of Nvidia due to an affair scandal.

Former Seoul National University professor Hwang Woo-seok, who belatedly found out that he lost his Korean nationality by acquiring United Arab Emirates (UAE) nationality, was also cited as a major person of interest.

The following are people of interest who ranked high in search volume in the Yonhap News People DB.

◇ Lee Yong-cheol (Candidate for Minister of Justice)

After being nominated as a candidate for Minister of Justice on the 6th, his past relationship with President Lee and his major career attracted attention.

Candidate Lee is a founding member of Saegil, a law firm where President Lee worked as a lawyer just before he was elected mayor of Seongnam in 2010, and jointly took on a total of seven cases with President Lee at the time, including six civil cases and one administrative case.

From July 2011 to April 2015, he served as CEO of the Seongnam Industry Promotion Foundation (currently Seongnam Industry Promotion Agency) under Seongnam City. After his inauguration, the foundation reorganized itself and promoted the establishment of industrial development strategies for Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town and the discovery of related projects.

In relation to this, some in the opposition party claim that candidate Lee is the 'architect' of the Daejeon-dong development corruption, but they maintain that candidate Lee was not involved in the development project.

Regarding the controversy over the cancellation of the indictment in President Lee's criminal case, on the first day of the personnel hearing preparation team on the 11th, he said, "Now is the time to focus on uncovering the truth, and there is no change in our existing position that the rest must follow laws and principles."

◇ Jensen Huang (former NVIDIA CEO)

He was a prominent figure who developed Nvidia into a leading company in the global artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor market, but after a series of affair scandals, he suddenly resigned 33 years after co-founding the company in 1993.

Nvidia's board of directors issued a statement on the 12th (local time) and announced that CEO Hwang would resign from his position as president, CEO, and board member immediately.

Former CEO Hwang admitted to an extramarital affair on the 8th, saying, "I was unfaithful to my wife," as suspicions arose of an affair with former Megaspeed executive Alice Huang (Chinese name Huang Le), who is suspected of being a Chinese spy.

There was also a U.S. media report that Alice Huang used her relationship with former CEO Hwang to help major Chinese technology companies secretly use NVIDIA AI chips worth at least $7.5 billion (about 10 trillion won).

Afterwards, an internal speech with Nvidia Healthcare Vice President Kimberly Powell and another female Nvidia employee was brought up.

In the aftermath of former CEO Hwang's resignation, Nvidia's stock price closed down 4.34% on the 12th (local time), and the major New York Stock Exchange indices also fell.

◇ Choi Min-hee (Chief member of the Democratic Party of Korea)

He apologized on the 11th after receiving strong criticism after it was revealed that he had referred to National Assembly photo and video reporters as a "pack of hyenas" in a group chat room attended by local party members.

On the 5th, he posted a photo of reporters covering the story in a group chat room and wrote, "A pack of hyenas," and "They're doing this to somehow get a video of this." As controversy arose, he posted on Facebook, "I acknowledge and apologize that my expression was excessive and inappropriate," and then held a press conference at the National Assembly and officially apologized.

On the 12th, it was reported that at a closed-door meeting in the district last month, President Lee Jae-myung said, "When he was the party leader, he opposed the impeachment of former President Yoon Seok-yeol," and "his position was to do the best in the direction of his resignation."

The Blue House expressed strong regret in the name of Chief Spokesperson Kang Yu-jeong, saying, "Rep. Choi's message is groundless," and Rep. Choi apologized for confusion during the Q&A process, saying, "The President consistently insisted on and carried through the impeachment of Yoon Seok-yeol after the civil war."

Supreme Council member Choi once again explained his remarks in a solo press conference on the morning of the 13th, but held a joint press conference with Supreme Council members Lee Seong-yoon and Han Min-soo, both pro-Blue Party members, to criticize Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok's decision to order an inspection investigation by the party's ethics inspection team, saying, "It's like raising a problem in the eyes of others."

◇ Hwang Woo-seok (former professor at Seoul National University)

It became a hot topic when it was belatedly revealed that Hwang Woo-seok, a former professor at Seoul National University who is currently working in the UAE, acquired UAE nationality and lost his Korean nationality.

The Ministry of Justice's Cheongju Immigration Office announced in August that former Professor Hwang had lost his Korean nationality by acquiring UAE nationality on April 9 of this year.

However, former Professor Hwang said in an interview with a media outlet, "I have applied for restoration of Korean nationality and am awaiting the results of the review by the Ministry of Justice."

He, who had previously become famous for his research on animal cloning, caused a stir when a paper on stem cells published in the American scientific journal 'Science' in 2004-2005 was found to have been fabricated.

He was later indicted on charges of embezzlement of research funds, and was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison with 2 years of probation in 2014. After a lawsuit with Seoul National University, his dismissal was confirmed in 2015.

He is currently serving as the CEO of the UAE Biotech Research Institute.

◇ Choi In-ho (Senior Secretary for Political Affairs, Blue House)

Hong Ik-pyo, former senior secretary for political affairs at the Blue House, was selected as the successor to the president of the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) as senior secretary for political affairs, following his resignation.

Presidential Chief of Staff Lim Gwang-hyun explained the background of his appointment as "a politician who has practiced the values ​​of communication and integration," referring to his history as a former member of the National Assembly re-elected in Busan and as a top member and chief spokesperson of the Democratic Party.

On the 10th, Chief Choi visited Kim Min-seok, leader of the Democratic Party, and said, "I will do my best to ensure that the party, the government, and the Blue House become one and strengthen communication so that the results lead to the people's livelihood and government administration."

On the same day, he said to People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeong-sik, "Regardless of form or content, I hope that the opposition party leaders will come to the Blue House at any time to restore open dialogue."