The assumption that sitting lawmakers sail through Cabinet confirmation is breaking down under the Lee Jae-myung administration. With the withdrawal of Kim Seung-won as nominee for justice minister, the number of sitting members of the National Assembly who have abandoned Cabinet nominations has risen to three, including Kang Sun-woo, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent, and Yong Hye-in of the Basic Income Party. Immediately after stepping aside, Kim called for prosecution reform, while the Basic Income Party, to which Yong belongs, pushed to bar lawmakers from serving as ministers.
About five hours after withdrawing as justice minister nominee on the 19th, Kim wrote on social media that he would "complete the unfinished reform of the prosecution service."
In a video he posted, Kim said at a press conference that he would "give up the post but not the truth," pledging to "reveal the full picture of the targeted investigations by the political prosecutors under Yoon Suk-yeol and Han Dong-hoon, and of Han's illegal leaking and splicing of confidential investigative material."
Kim attached hashtags to the post including "prosecution reform," "political prosecutors," "targeted investigation," "leak of investigative secrets," "spliced investigation," "uncovering the truth," "completing prosecution reform," "I will reveal it to the end" and "I will not give up the truth."
Earlier that day, Kim held a press conference at the National Assembly's media center and said he had "decided after deep deliberation to step down as nominee for justice minister." The announcement came a day after President Lee Jae-myung said he would "decide carefully, taking into account public expectations," on whether to appoint Kim.
The Basic Income Party, to which former gender equality and family minister nominee Yong Hye-in belongs, proposed to the Democratic Party on the 14th — a day after Yong withdrew — that the National Assembly Act be revised to bar lawmakers from serving as Cabinet ministers, whether elected in districts or through proportional representation.
At a supreme council meeting that day, party leader Oh Jun-ho said there was "no reason to allow district lawmakers to hold ministerial posts while barring proportional representatives, if the principle of mutual checks between the executive and the legislature matters." He proposed putting "a revision of the National Assembly Act that would prohibit lawmakers from serving as Cabinet members" up for public debate.
