Jang Dong-hyuk, leader of the People Power Party, on the 7th accused Kim Seung-won, the nominee for justice minister who faces a range of allegations raised by the opposition, of being "an accomplice in stock manipulation, going beyond bribery." Pointing to broader problems with the Lee Jae-myung administration's cabinet reshuffle, Jang went on the offensive, saying it must be thoroughly examined "whether Kim Hyun-ji, the presidential office's first deputy chief of staff who is said to have a hand in everything, also trampled on the vetting process."
Speaking at a party leadership meeting at the National Assembly that day, Jang said, "This reshuffle is equivalent to President Lee Jae-myung declaring that he has given up on the public." He added, "The goal of the reshuffle is clear — dropping indictments and taking care of the left."
On Kim, Jang said a "shameless 'bribes for a brother' case has come to light," adding, "A drug that made laboratory mice vomit blood and die nearly came out as a COVID-19 treatment. This lobbying nearly cost the lives of the public." He also claimed that "a perfectly healthy company was driven to delisting, inflicting enormous damage on retail investors as well." He appeared to be referring to Sejong Medical, which was delisted after investing in Genencell, the company identified in the lobbying allegations.
Jang also criticized Yong Hye-in, the nominee for minister of gender equality and family, saying, "Yong said state subsidies mass-produce parasitic parties, yet now she refuses to give up her proportional representation seat so she can receive those subsidies." He added, "Why else would members of progressive and youth parties themselves take to the streets in protest?" Pointing to her past activity in an "underground organization," a clandestine group within the Labor Party, he said, "In the underground organization, they shouted 'no work, yes money.' They called for homosexuality in the military and the introduction of a non-consent rape charge." He argued, "In the end, she was named as a special forces unit for President Lee's leftist policies."
Jang raised allegations against Lee Hyoung-il, the nominee for deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance, and Hong Ji-sun, the nominee for land, infrastructure and transport minister, saying respectively that Lee "lived in a home he had owned for 17 years for only four months" and that Hong "even used her mother-in-law's connections to buy an apartment." Of Kang Shin-chul, the nominee for defense minister who faces allegations of falsely registering his address to qualify for a special housing allocation for residents displaced by demolition, Jang said he "made 1.7 billion won through a false address registration."
On Kim Hyun-ji, who faces allegations of intervening in the presidential office's personnel process, Jang claimed, "The internal confession that Kim Hyun-ji is part of the personnel line is probably the real situation." He said, "Not only should the nominations of Kim Seung-won and Yong Hye-in be withdrawn, but the entire reshuffle should be scrapped." He added, "If he rejects public sentiment, public sentiment will reject the president."
