Editorial: Are Kim Seung-won and Yong Hye-in Candidates Who Meet Public Standards?

The controversy surrounding two ministerial nominees is threatening to turn President Lee Jae-myung’s reshuffle into a political liability rather than an opportunity for renewal, this editorial argues. Kim Seung-won, nominated to lead the Justice Ministry, faces questions over an alleged request to speed up clinical trials for Genexine’s COVID-19 drug. Yong Hye-in, nominated to head the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, is under fire for insisting that she will retain her parliamentary seat after taking office.

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could be grounds for disqualification from serving as justice minister

The case involving Kim became more contentious after it emerged that prosecutors had granted him a deferred indictment over allegations that, in 2021, he accepted a request from a broker and asked Kim Kang-lip, then commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, to expedite the trial process. The People Power Party, civic group People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and the Justice Party have all called for his nomination to be withdrawn, saying the allegations could disqualify him from serving as justice minister.

Further criticism followed reports involving Sejong Medical, which acquired shares in Genexel. The company actively publicized the drug’s clinical-trial approval, sending its share price through repeated sharp swings. The company is now close to delisting, and about 30,000 individual investors reportedly suffered losses. The drug ultimately failed to reach development success. Kim says he merely relayed a civil complaint, but the editorial questions whether that was appropriate conduct for a lawmaker, even if no payment was involved, given the sensitivity of clinical trials and their potential impact on stock prices.

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I merely relayed a civil complaint

Yong has maintained that she must keep her seat because her resignation would leave the Basic Income Party without a parliamentary representative. Critics say that effectively protects the party’s eligibility for state subsidies. The argument has drawn accusations of hypocrisy because the party held a 2020 news conference calling for the abolition of state subsidies that produced “parasite parties” and advocating a political basic income. The editorial says Yong’s continued dual-role position is alienating young and women voters, supporters of the broader governing camp and progressive parties. It calls on the presidential office to reassess whether both nominees meet public expectations of fairness and integrity. A Gallup poll cited in the editorial put Lee’s approval rating at 40%, with personnel appointments the third-most cited reason for negative evaluations, after real estate policy and the economy and livelihoods.

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If I resign, the Basic Income Party would face the difficulty of becoming a party without a parliamentary seat