[Briefing] Kim Seung-won and Yong Hye-in controversy puts ‘burden on government’

A Hankyoreh political briefing highlights a series of controversies surrounding Kim Seung-won and Yong Hye-in, with the presidential office reportedly saying they should undergo parliamentary confirmation hearings. The program also examines reports involving Kim and a disputed reference to the presidential office, which Kim denied was included in his phone call.

The briefing looks at tensions within the Democratic Party, including a dispute between Kim Min-seok and Cho Kuk over allegations of a secret agreement on a merger. It also covers demands from hard-line ruling-party lawmakers to review a proposed organizational plan for a new prosecution agency.

National Assembly Speaker Jeong Cheong-rae is quoted as warning that the plan could leave room for a misunderstanding that prosecutors might regain investigative powers if circumstances change. Separately, the program considers calls for the president to make his position clear on a controversy over seeking another term and reports that a news conference was under review.

The international segment covers President Lee Jae Myung’s statement that South Korea and France would closely cooperate to protect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. It also raises reports that the United States may have asked South Korea to deploy forces to the waterway by November, alongside a report that U.S. forces struck a tanker near Iran’s oil-export hub of Kharg Island. The briefing ends with Germany’s chancellor describing a far-right party’s sweeping victory as the country’s worst defeat in decades.