Democratic Party hits back at PPP, Han over attacks on justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won

The Democratic Party of Korea pushed back Saturday against what it called politically motivated attacks by the People Power Party and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon on justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won.

Floor spokesperson Kim Seong-hoe, in a written briefing, said the opposition's repeated allegations that Kim had lobbied for clinical trial approval for a COVID-19 drug amounted to a smear campaign rather than genuine vetting. "Reaching a conclusion before the confirmation hearing even begins and driving it home is nothing more than a political offensive — not scrutiny," Kim said. "They are branding a nominee that even the prosecutors under the Yoon Suk Yeol government could not indict."

Kim added that prosecutors had conducted a sweeping investigation during the Yoon administration but ultimately declined to indict the nominee. "Are they now going to deny the conclusion reached by the very prosecutors they commanded?" he said.

He said the PPP had been the ruling party at the time and asked what possible constraints could have existed on an investigation targeting a single opposition lawmaker. "Even on a tilted playing field, they could not bring him to trial," he said.

Kim also said the PPP was treating an unresolved matter as settled fact by invoking bribery charges and the prospect of prison. "There is no evidence that any money changed hands," he added.

Turning to PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok, Kim said he was eager to convict the nominee when no court had done so. "If you want to hand down a sentence that badly, put the robes back on," he said.

He called on all parties to listen carefully to the nominee and said discussions at the confirmation hearing — where perjury carries criminal penalties — must be grounded in facts and evidence.