Lawmaker says texts were not improper lobbying, donor account transfer was routine procedure
Photos showing nominee with judge taken two years before case in question, she says
Prosecutors deployed 11 investigators over three years before issuing deferred indictment
Seo calls nominee's past defense of sex offenders 'a part he got wrong'
Seo Young-gyo, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker who chairs the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, on Friday strongly rebuffed allegations of improper lobbying and collusion with a judge surrounding Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won. She did, however, say his past record of defending sex offenders was "a part he got wrong."
Speaking on YTN Radio's "Jang Seong-cheol's News Myeongdang," Seo addressed text messages Kim sent her when he served as the ruling party's floor manager on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. "This is not improper lobbying or anything of the sort," she said. "I had first asked him what the matter was about, and he was in the middle of responding to that."
Kim faces allegations that he received a complaint related to a COVID-19 treatment clinical trial, contacted Kim Kang-rip, then commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and afterward passed the complainant a political donation account number. Seo rebuffed the claim, saying a political donation account "is always open." "If you say someone sent their account number 'for the purpose of receiving money,' that person ends up looking like a suspicious character," she said, adding, "It was not in exchange for any assistance."
Seo also turned her criticism on the prosecutors who investigated the case. "Eleven prosecutors were deployed over three years to dig through everything," she said. "Everyone from the food and drug safety commissioner on down was acquitted, yet Kim Seung-won — without being acquitted and without being indicted — was ensnared with a deferred indictment." Kim has filed a constitutional complaint challenging that deferred indictment.
Seo also pushed back on allegations that Kim had colluded with a judge who handled arrest warrant requests. Regarding photos showing Kim and the judge together, she said, "Those photos were taken two years before the case." She added, "Cleverly weaving those photos and details together is what they do."
Seo said she believed Kim would make a capable justice minister. "I thought that someone like this would do well as justice minister," she said, describing him as "someone who listens well to the voices of the vulnerable." She added that he was "a person who can listen carefully to the people, translate that into law, and create a world where people are happier."
She was more critical, however, when it came to his history of defending sex offenders. "I do not view it favorably," Seo said. "I think the right thing to do is to say that defending sex offenders is a part he got wrong, and move on." She said she understood that Kim himself had acknowledged the record, saying it "did not meet the public's expectations."
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