South Korean opposition demands withdrawal of justice minister nominee, accusing president of seeking to cancel his trial

South Korea’s opposition People Power Party has portrayed President Lee Jae-myung’s nomination of lawmaker Kim Seung-won as justice minister as a choice made for the president’s legal benefit.

Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik said Lee had selected the "best person to take the responsibility for canceling his own trial" and demanded that the nomination be withdrawn. Jeong said all six ministerial nominees in the reshuffle appeared to fall short of public expectations, but described Kim as the most serious case.

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The best person to take the responsibility for canceling his own trial.

Jeong revived criticism of Kim’s past conduct, including an incident in July 2020 when seven lawmakers were seen laughing in front of a television showing reports about deadly flooding in Daejeon. He also linked Kim to lawmakers who support abolishing prosecutors’ supplementary investigation powers and to what he called a hard-line faction seeking to dismantle the prosecution.

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I should do it.

The opposition leader cited Kim’s reported response during a radio broadcast to whether a justice minister could cancel the president’s alleged third-party bribery charge in the Ssangbangwool remittance case. Jeong said Kim had answered that it should be done. He also accused Kim of co-leading a group focused on canceling Lee’s criminal trials and of previously leading an effort to impeach a prosecutor investigating alleged cash envelopes at a Democratic Party convention.

Jeong said the nomination sent a message that canceling prosecutions had become the government’s top priority in its second year. He demanded that Lee withdraw Kim’s nomination and declare that he would face trial. Jeong separately criticized the continued absence of a national police chief, saying the post had remained vacant for more than 600 days, and called for the appointment to come before police reform efforts.

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Face trial.