'You can't pick someone who lives on morning dew,' Democratic lawmaker says of justice minister nominee

Kim Eui-gyeom, who leads the Democratic Party of Korea's side on the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, shrugged off allegations of drunk driving and fraudulent address registration against Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won, saying it is not "realistically possible" to select a nominee who has lived a spotless life. While questions have mounted over whether Kim is morally fit to serve as minister, Kim Eui-gyeom suggested the allegations do not rise to the level of disqualifying him from the post.

Speaking Monday on KBS Radio's "Jeongyeok Sisa," one day before Kim Seung-won's confirmation hearing, Kim Eui-gyeom was asked how the ruling party planned to approach the proceedings. "As a ruling party lawmaker, I intend to shield what should be shielded and press hard on what is genuinely problematic," he said.

Beyond the drunk-driving and fraudulent address registration allegations, Kim Seung-won also faces suspicions of preferential treatment toward a social cooperative run by his family.

On the cooperative allegations, Kim Eui-gyeom said the nominee would provide a detailed explanation Tuesday. He added that the nominee's family had devoted themselves to the field in a way that was almost unusually rare — his wife graduated from a special education department, and both his son and daughter studied fields specializing in children with disabilities, going on to work in welfare for many years.

Kim Eui-gyeom rebuffed opposition criticism that the nominee's record — including the drunk-driving and fraudulent registration incidents — amounted to multiple disqualifying factors. "You could see it that way," he said. "But realistically, there are limits — you simply cannot pick someone who lives on morning dew as your nominee."

He also addressed allegations that Kim Seung-won had lobbied the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on behalf of a new drug, claiming the investigation had been politically motivated from the start. "This investigation came down from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to the Western District Prosecutors' Office in November 2022 as a directed probe, and the very first thing prosecutors did was dig into a connection between Lee Jae Myung's Daejang-dong and lawmaker Kim Seung-won," he said.

Kim Eui-gyeom went on to say that the original tip had concerned Kim Seung-won and lobbying at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. "The investigation should have started there, but instead they inexplicably went after a link between Kim Seung-won and Lee Jae Myung's Daejang-dong first. Why did that come up? It makes no sense," he said.

He added that the investigation report itself suggested the probe had been "an intentionally targeted investigation aimed at bringing down Lee Jae Myung, who was the Democratic Party leader at the time," characterizing it as a politically motivated witch hunt against President Lee.

On a document titled "indictment plan" made public by independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, Kim Eui-gyeom said it was "a confidential document known only to a tiny number of people inside the prosecution," adding that "the leaking of investigative secrets and the public disclosure of facts about a suspect must be corrected."

He also shrugged off criticism that the hearing would be a "toothless" proceeding because witnesses requested by the opposition had not been approved. "The witnesses the opposition requested are people whose cases have already been adjudicated by prosecutors and the courts," he said. "It is not appropriate to drag cases investigated during the tenures of former President Yoon Suk Yeol and former Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon back into a confirmation hearing and use them as fodder for political sparring."

The People Power Party had requested 44 witnesses and four reference persons to scrutinize the new-drug lobbying allegations against Kim Seung-won — including a broker surnamed Yang, Genencell founder surnamed Kang, former Ministry of Food and Drug Safety chief Kim Gang-rip, and the Western District Prosecutors' Office investigation team that handled the 2024 probe into Kim Seung-won. The ruling party blocked all of the requests.

The confirmation hearing for Kim Seung-won is scheduled to be held Tuesday before the Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

Responding to Kim Eui-gyeom's "morning dew" remark, Han Dong-hoon said Monday that "the oppa drug-lobbying scandal is not at the level of 'living on morning dew.'" He added: "They probably don't sell Chamisul soju at the hostess bar the nominee's sister used to frequent — and not at lawmaker Kim Eui-gyeom's Cheongdam-dong bar, either."