Confirmation hearing week looms as opposition intensifies attacks on two nominees

Political activity is accelerating ahead of next week's confirmation hearings as controversies surrounding Ministry of Justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won and Minister of Gender Equality and Family nominee Yong Hye-in continue to mount.

The People Power Party and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon are stepping up their offensive against both nominees, while the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is watching how public opinion shifts as it weighs its defensive options, according to political sources Tuesday.

People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo released materials ahead of a press conference Tuesday, saying it had been confirmed that a social cooperative run by Kim's family had raised the salaries of his spouse and children by about 30 percent annually even as the cooperative's net profit fell sharply. Joo added that Kim should also face an investigation into alleged violations of the Framework Act on Cooperatives.

According to Joo, the Korea Child Development Social Cooperative — a care services provider for people with developmental disabilities led by Kim's spouse — paid Kim's spouse and two children who work at the cooperative 68.4 million won ($50,900) in 2024, 89.3 million won in 2025, and 113.82 million won from January through August 2026, representing an increase of about 30 percent each year. Over the same period, the cooperative's net profit fell 54.3 percent, from 103.32 million won in 2024 to 47.2 million won in 2025.

Han also spoke out when he met reporters just before attending the National Assembly plenary session Tuesday, saying he would go to the hearing — "as a witness, a committee member, or under any other label" — to personally block Kim from becoming justice minister. "Someone who uses nonsense terms like 'oppa poison lobby' has no place leading the Ministry of Justice," he said.

Han also shared on his Facebook page an additional recorded phone call involving a broker identified only by the surname Yang, which had been released on a YouTube channel in connection with allegations that someone lobbied for clinical trial approval of a COVID-19 drug. In the call, Yang told an acquaintance in November 2021, "I did it because it was me. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety people would never do it otherwise. Acknowledge that."

Nominee Yong is also under sustained fire from the opposition, facing not only an earlier controversy over holding her proportional-representation Assembly seat while serving as a nominee, but now fresh allegations about running a private organization outside official channels.

The Democratic Party, working to fend off the broad opposition offensive, has adopted different stances toward the two nominees. It has formed a dedicated response team to actively defend Kim, while taking a cautious, wait-and-see approach on Yong and emphasizing the need to gauge public sentiment.

Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do sharpened his criticism at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly on Tuesday. "We cannot tolerate the distortion of facts through materials whose source cannot even be disclosed, or selectively edited recordings, all in the name of vetting," he said. "If lawmaker Han, who is engaging in political prosecution-style cabinet politics, has made claims that are not true, he must be held accountable for that."

A senior ruling party official told reporters in a phone interview that public sentiment toward Yong among women in their 20s and 30s was understood to be unfavorable, making the situation a serious concern. The official added, however, that many of the allegations surrounding Kim were seen as matters that could largely be addressed at the actual confirmation hearing.

Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae reaffirmed its position that both nominees must go through confirmation hearings as a matter of principle. A presidential office official, speaking to reporters in Paris on Monday (local time), said the confirmation hearing process itself was "a public vetting process for nominees" and that because the nominees had been designated through the personnel system under the personnel committee chair's responsibility, they must go through the hearings. Asked about media reports that the ruling party leadership had conveyed to Cheong Wa Dae that Yong was unfit for the post, the official said, "That is something I have not been able to confirm, and nothing in particular has been confirmed."