Park Jeong-hun accuses justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won of rewarding regional association chief with secretarial post

People Power Party lawmaker Park Jeong-hun said Monday that Ministry of Justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won hired the sitting head of a Honam regional association as a Grade 5 secretary after the 2022 local elections.

Park made the allegation at a press conference at the National Assembly, saying the information came from a tip by a former aide who had worked with Kim.

"It has also emerged that before hiring the association head, the nominee had already taken on his daughter as an intern," Park said. He added that Kim had previously drawn criticism for hiring the son of Judge Jeong In-jae as a legislative assistant.

Park said the association head reportedly never once showed up at the National Assembly after joining the office and visited the district office only about once a week. "There are sufficient grounds to suspect that this was a reward for the association head's contributions to the local election campaign — a quid pro quo hiring," he said.

Park noted that a Grade 5 secretary earns an annual salary of around 80 million won ($59,400), paid out of public funds, and that Article 87 of the Public Official Election Act prohibits regional associations from involvement in elections.

Park also raised allegations that the association head is currently under police investigation. "Police are investigating allegations that he assisted Democratic Party candidates in both the 2022 local elections and the presidential election," Park said, adding that the complaint had been filed by the People Power Party candidate for Suwon mayor at the time.

Asked by a reporter how long the association head had served in the office, Park said he began working in September after the 2022 local elections but that the exact end date could not be confirmed. "The National Assembly Secretariat has not submitted the records," he said.

Park added that Article 87 of the Public Official Election Act spells out why regional associations are barred from participating in elections. "There is significant potential illegality here. The hiring alone is not enough to conclude a violation, but it is clear that the spirit of the law has been breached," he said.