Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party said on the 15th that an aide to Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won photographed his notes prepared for questioning during the confirmation hearing, and warned that he would pursue strong legal action. Kim acknowledged the incident and apologized, but pushed back by saying he "never gave any such instruction."
Joo made the claim on his Facebook page that day, releasing video footage filmed during the confirmation hearing. The footage shows a woman standing behind Joo holding a camera and watching his notes.
After Joo finished writing, he called over a staff member from his office to explain what he had written, and during that exchange the woman raised her camera in what appeared to be an attempt to photograph Joo's notes before lowering it again. Joo said the woman had been confirmed as a member of Kim's team. It has not been confirmed, however, whether the aide actually photographed the material and shared it externally.
In the post accompanying the video, Joo wrote: "The nominee spying on me, a member of the confirmation committee — is this something that can happen in a liberal democracy?" He added, "How little must a justice minister nominee have to hide from the public that he would insult the National Assembly by spying on an opposition lawmaker?"
"The nominee is not a member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. How is it that his aide was roaming freely among opposition confirmation committee members?" he said. "By any measure, this is clearly surveillance." He continued, "Is he resorting even to surveillance to get President Lee Jae-myung's prosecution dropped? I will take strong legal action. Covert filming and surveillance are serious crimes."
The dispute also surfaced at the hearing itself. Rep. Park Hyung-soo of the People Power Party called the conduct "something that should never happen between the ruling and opposition parties," stressing the minimum courtesy that must be observed at hearings. Seo Young-kyo, chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, also cautioned aides to refrain from photographing other lawmakers' materials or engaging in behavior that could cause discomfort.
This is not the first controversy over alleged surveillance of the opposition. Earlier, a staff member of the Prime Minister's Office introduced himself as a "private citizen" at a press conference held by independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon, and with suspicions now extending to Kim, observers say the fallout could be considerable.
After the controversy erupted, Kim admitted the photographing had taken place, saying: "I sincerely apologize for the inappropriate conduct that caused Rep. Joo distress." Kim drew a line, however, saying: "I want to make clear that neither I nor anyone else instructed or was involved in the taking of photographs. The aide is a young employee in her 20s with little experience who, through immature judgment during the hearing, took a photograph and deleted it as soon as she realized it was wrong."
