The National Assembly confirmation hearing for Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won ended without a decisive blow. The opposition, which had expressed confidence in its vetting and predicted the nominee's downfall, failed to present any clear disqualifying grounds and instead rushed to recycle allegations that had already been raised. Opposition members complained of a "hollow and shoddy hearing," saying the ruling party had refused to approve the witnesses needed for scrutiny.
Kim and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea fell equally short of public expectations. On the central allegation — that he lobbied on behalf of a COVID-19 treatment drug — Kim offered no clear explanation, saying only that he "majored in the humanities" and therefore would not know. An aide from Kim's parliamentary office was caught secretly filming an opposition lawmaker's questioning and apologized. Ruling party members hurled insults at opposition lawmakers, calling them "hideous" and a "devil."
According to political sources on the 16th, Kim told Kim Min-jeon of the People Power Party at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee hearing on the 15th that "I majored in the humanities. I cannot judge the efficacy of a treatment," when asked about allegations that Genencell, the company said to have been the beneficiary of the lobbying, had manipulated animal test results. The drug lobbying matter is the core allegation against Kim. Ahead of the hearing, a range of allegations had surfaced, including that he solicited approval for clinical trials of a COVID-19 drug, maintained a suspicious relationship with a broker surnamed Yang, had improper ties to a sitting judge, secured favors for his spouse and children, and represented a sexual violence suspect.
In his opening statement, Kim bowed his head and said he was "sorry for causing public concern" over the various allegations, but during questioning he pushed back firmly, telling opposition lawmakers, "What do you think you are doing?" He shed tears while addressing allegations involving his family, but responded aggressively at other points, cutting into lawmakers' questions to press his own explanations.
The People Power Party objected to the Democratic Party's refusal to approve 44 witnesses, calling it a "gag hearing." Park Hyung-soo, the opposition's committee liaison, said, "The Democratic Party is trying to hold a hollow hearing with not a single witness, a shoddy hearing without submitting documents." On document submission, he said, "Kim criticized the fact that less than 70% of the materials requested by the Democratic Party and the Rebuilding Korea Party had arrived for Shim Woo-jung's confirmation hearing as prosecutor general, yet the materials this nominee submitted come to 64.6%."
Allegations also surfaced that former Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Hyun-young was involved in the drug lobbying case. Kwak Kyu-taek of the People Power Party noted that two of the five hospitals that conducted clinical trials of the Genencell treatment were affiliated with the Catholic University of Korea medical school — Bucheon St. Mary's Hospital and Eunpyeong St. Mary's Hospital — and identified Shin, a graduate of the same medical school who was then a member of the Health and Welfare Committee, as the "link" in the lobbying. "Song Young-gil, Choi Jae-sung, Kim Seung-won and Shin Hyun-young all appear," Kwak said. "This is the Democratic Party's 'poison gate.'"
Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party raised allegations that a social cooperative run by Kim's family received preferential support, and played an actual recording of the nominee's spouse. In the recording, Kim's spouse said, "We were rejected in the fire safety inspection, but a team leader at Suwon City did us a lot of favors." Joo said, "The Democratic Party's shamelessness has gone too far."
The opposition's attack, however, was seen as blunter than expected. Rather than uncovering ethical failings the nominee could not explain, critics said, it amounted to forcing unverified allegations into the record. The remaining allegations were largely reheated versions of claims already made.
Kim responded to the allegations by rebutting them point by point or raising his voice. On the allegations involving Shin, he said, "I never went to that meeting, and do you really think prosecutors did not investigate this at the time?" On the claims that treatment data had been falsified, he said, "I majored in the humanities." Asked why the related prosecution investigation had ended with a suspended indictment, he turned his fire on prosecutors, calling it "the product of splitting up indictments."
To Joo, he shot back, Try having your son work at that development center once adding, "If you knew how hard they work there, you could not ask a question like this." Kim wept while explaining the allegations surrounding the cooperative. On whether a special counsel law should grant the power to withdraw charges against President Lee Jae-myung, he said, "I oppose putting a charge-withdrawal clause in a special counsel law. There is no need to do it artificially." He did argue, however, that allegations of fabricated indictments in the president's case "must be laid bare completely."
The ruling bloc mobilized to defend Kim inside and outside the hearing room. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Dong-a said the opposition was "dredging up a case closed five years ago, with no new facts, and presenting it as if it were new." Lee Sung-yoon of the Democratic Party said the proceedings reminded him of "the Roh Moo-hyun rice-paddy watch," adding, "Don't you recognize the old playbook — prosecutors leaking and publicizing details of a suspect's alleged offenses to demonize the target and achieve their investigative aims?" Seo Young-kyo of the Democratic Party, who chairs the committee, rebuked opposition members for repeatedly raising allegations of stock manipulation involving Genencell, saying, "Genencell is not a listed company. Do some homework." Outside the hearing, Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do praised Kim as "someone with experience in both courtroom practice and reform legislation."
Wrangling over lawmaker Han Dong-hoon continued as well. Han led the pre-hearing vetting of Kim but could not attend the session because he does not sit on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. His request to be called as a witness was also rejected. Instead, Han kept up his offensive by meeting reporters at the National Assembly and posting on Facebook. Meeting reporters at the National Assembly that afternoon, Han said, "Kim Seung-won, the 'oppa poison lobbyist,' and the people determined to install someone like that as head of the ministry serving the public are the enemies of democracy."
On his investigation records that Han made public, Kim said, "It is clear these are materials that should never have been leaked. I asked prosecutors for the investigation records and they would not give them to me," vowing to establish the truth. Park Eun-jung of the Rebuilding Korea Party said, "Of the 604 posts Han put on social media over 15 days, 412 were about the nominee," calling it "stalking at that point."
Shouting and abusive language also filled the room. When Democratic Party lawmaker Park Jie-won called Joo "a viper," opposition members objected in unison. Joo said, "I held back three times out of courtesy," and Kwak protested that the remark was "an insult to his character." Park Kyoun-taek of the Democratic Party told People Power Party lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu to "get that hideous face out of here," and Kim Dong-a called Joo "a devil." Joo drew ruling party objections by asking whether a colleague had "received orders from Kim Hyun-ji." The opposition also complained about Seo's handling of the session. Protests erupted after an official from Kim's parliamentary office was caught on camera filming Joo during his questioning. Joo pushed back hard, calling it "clear surveillance," and Kim's side eventually issued a statement saying, "We sincerely apologize to lawmaker Joo for causing concern through an inappropriate act." It said the person who did the filming was "a young staff member in their 20s with little experience," adding, "Whatever the reason, we acknowledge this was improper conduct."
