Democrats Call People Power Party’s Attacks on Kim Seung-won “Political Offensive”

South Korea’s Democratic Party moved to defend Kim Seung-won, its nominee for justice minister, after the People Power Party pressed for his withdrawal over allegations that he sought a favor concerning clinical approval for a new COVID-19 drug.

Democratic Party floor spokesman Kim Seong-hoe called the opposition campaign a “political offensive.” He said deciding the conclusion before the confirmation hearing began was not a genuine vetting process.

The spokesman argued that prosecutors under the Yoon Suk Yeol government had conducted an extensive investigation but ultimately did not indict Kim. He questioned whether the People Power Party was now rejecting the conclusion reached by the prosecution it had previously directed.

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Driving the nominee toward a predetermined conclusion before the hearing begins is nothing more than a political offensive, not verification.

He also said the opposition was treating an unconfirmed matter as bribery and talking about imprisonment, while insisting that no money had changed hands. He urged lawmakers to listen calmly to the nominee and continue a discussion based on facts and documents in the hearing, where perjury is punishable.

Kim Seong-hoe criticized what he called the selective release of favorable passages while concealing unfavorable context. He said the public’s real interest was in the nominee’s expertise and ability to lead a new criminal justice system.

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What the public wants to know is the nominee’s expertise and ability to lead the new criminal justice system.