On May 3, Kim In-chul announced his resignation as deputy prime minister and education minister nominee. Kim is the first nominee in Yoon Seok-youl’s first cabinet to step down before his confirmation.

This morning at 9:30 a.m. Kim held an emergency press conference in the lobby of the Korea Institute of Educational Facility Safety and announced his resignation saying, “I wanted to return the benefits I received from the state and society with my last service, but there was much that I lacked.”

He further said, “I will not make any excuses. It was all my negligence and my fault.” He continued and said, “I have no way to hide how sorry I am to President-elect Yoon Seok-youl, who trusted me with such an important position. I wish the success of the Yoon Seok-youl government, albeit from a distance.” He added, “Once again, I apologize to the people and ask for your understanding.”

On his way out, Kim told the reporters that he would not receive any questions and said, “I ask for your cooperation so I can keep my last dignity on my way out.”

Kim was scheduled to stand before the National Assembly for a confirmation hearing on May 6. However, controversial allegations were raised claiming that when he was president of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 2015, he had ordered a total inspection of “gold spoon parents” and that he misused the corporate credit card. Recently, news got out that his daughter had received a Fulbright scholarship amounting to 100 million won for two years when Kim was the chairman of the Korea Fulbright Alumni Association, triggering a heated debate over “daddy favors.” It was also confirmed that Kim’s son had worked as a short-term intern at the National Assembly just before he left to study in the U.S. in 2016.