Grand National Party lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo accused Lee of being a “pro-Pyongyang leftist” based on articles and papers Lee has written about North Korea. Hong asked if someone who used to be an “ardent dissident” here was fit to be unification minister.

Another GNP lawmaker, Chun Yu-ok, claimed the influential former deputy chief of the National Security Council had written articles that spent more time hailing the charisma and ability of former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung than dwelling on his abuses.

But lawmakers in the ruling Uri Party were supportive. Choi Sung asked Lee whether he felt his academic career as a North Korea expert who “severely denounced” the regime would be a disadvantage in dealing with Pyongyang in his new role. Shin Ki-nam also highlighted Lee’s expertise. Lawmaker Lee Hwa-young said it was wrong to take some of the minister-designate’s past writings out of context to attack him.

Lee admitted mistakes. "I wrote some of the work in question when I was 31, and I admit that I was rather narrow-minded back then," he said. But he denied being “pro-Pyongyang”, saying he had been highly critical of North Korea's juche or self-reliance ideology and its personality cult and had been criticized by both right and left in dealing with inter-Korean issues and Korea-U.S. affairs. "I may look like a right-winger from the far left of the ideological spectrum and like a left-winger from the far right,” he said. “I think it is important to maintain a balance between the two sides."

(englishnews@chosun.com )