PPP: Kim Seung-won scandal needs parliamentary inquiry, not hearing

The People Power Party's floor leadership continued its sharp criticism of the second Lee Jae Myung administration's Cabinet reshuffle on Friday. While calling on nominees embroiled in various controversies to step down, party leaders also voiced concern that the government might push ahead with their appointments regardless.

Jeong Jeom-sik, floor leader of the People Power Party, held a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly on Friday and addressed allegations that Ministry of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won solicited favors linked to a new drug's approval. "Nominee Kim should face a parliamentary investigation, not a confirmation hearing," he said. "The various allegations surrounding the nominee are not simple personal misconduct — this is a full-blown scandal involving lobbying and stock manipulation."

He continued, "Politics turned into a personal affair, and that affair turned into lobbying. That lobbying nearly fed the public rat poison." He added, "This alone shows why a parliamentary investigation is necessary."

He said, "Shares of Sejong Medical, the largest shareholder of Genencell, the company that made the drug in question, surged on expectations of clinical trial approval. But when the approval was actually announced, a wave of sell-offs sent the price crashing to half its value." He added, "Manipulators pocketed 18 billion won ($13.5 million) in profit, while 30,000 retail investors suffered losses."

He also said, "Among the companies linked to the stock manipulation allegations is KH Philux, an affiliate of KH Group. KH Group Chairman Bae Sang-yun is closely tied to Kim Sung-tae, the former Ssangbangul chairman who masterminded illicit remittances to North Korea, and is himself a Red Notice fugitive wanted by Interpol."

Jeong said, "The president chose nominee Kim as a special minister to erase wrongdoing, but nominee Kim has now become a landmine for the administration." He added, "We must determine how deeply those in power were involved in the lobbying and stock manipulation case."

He said, "Nothing can be uncovered through a hearing without witnesses. This matter requires not only a parliamentary investigation but a special prosecutor probe."

Im Yi-ja, chair of the People Power Party Policy Committee, criticized Yong Hye-in, nominee for minister of Gender Equality and Family, over her press conference Thursday, saying, "There was no apology, no reflection, not even a minimal, sensible explanation." She added, "Even though more than seven in 10 citizens judged her unfit for the post, instead of showing remorse she tried to lecture the public."

Im also asked, "If the government pushes through the appointments of Kim Seung-won and Yong Hye-in — the so-called 'Kim and Yong' picks — it would be declaring all-out war on public sentiment." She continued, "How can a government that forces through nominees the public has rejected, and fights against public common sense, call itself a government of popular sovereignty?"

Jeong Hee-yong, the People Power Party's secretary-general, said the real estate allegations surrounding other ministerial nominees were also "too serious to overlook," pointing to controversies involving Minister of National Defense nominee Kang Shin-chul, Ministry of SMEs and Startups nominee Lee So-young, and Ministry of Economy and Finance nominee Lee Hyung-il.

Jeong said, "The Lee Jae Myung administration is currently emphasizing a housing policy centered on actual residence, even treating long-term ownership of a single non-resident home as speculative. If these nominees actually become ministers, it would amount to the government contradicting the very principles of its own real estate policy."