PPP Digs Into Whether Lee and Yong Have Been Compromised

Armed with polls showing public "opposition to the appointments," the People Power Party (PPP) on the 12th pressed ahead with its campaign to force Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won and Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in to step down, keeping up the "forced-exit offensive" (pressure to make the nominees resign) through briefings and statements.

The PPP is treating nominee Yong Hye-in's fall as a fait accompli, urging the withdrawal of her nomination or a voluntary resignation and pressuring President Lee Jae-myung to decide. After his briefing on the 12th, PPP chief spokesperson Park Sung-hoon met with reporters and brought up the nominee's recent press conference. "That press conference was not for the public," Park argued. "It was a threat — a message to President Lee not to withdraw her nomination. We cannot help but ask whether nominee Yong has gained a hold over President Lee and the presidential office."

The PPP also sought to highlight that the Democratic Party of Korea's defensive shield around nominee Kim amounts to "disregarding public opinion." At the briefing on the 12th, Park noted that 43 percent of respondents in polls called Kim's nomination "inappropriate" — twice the 22 percent who called it "appropriate." He then warned: "If they go on defying public sentiment while ignoring the people's warning to the very end, they must remember that the price of that arrogance and willfulness will ultimately come back as the ruin of the entire Lee Jae-myung administration."

Criticism escalated after Democratic Party Chairman Kim Min-seok assessed the nominee as "an appointment that looks better the more you look at it." Park seized on the remark, calling it "a frontal challenge to public sentiment and an arrogant declaration of war against the people," and stressing that "appointee vetting has gone missing, accountability has vanished, and all that remains is a bulletproof shield for the administration." Five-term Rep. Kim Ki-hyun mocked in a Facebook post: "It never ceases to amaze anew just how sharp President Lee's 'miraculous' eye is for 'great picks' — choosing nothing but corrupt, scandal-ridden, and unlawful appointees, to the point one wonders where on earth he keeps finding such people." Independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon wrote on Facebook on the 12th: "Kim Min-seok, who ran away on the day martial law was declared, says it is 'continued insurrection' for Han Dong-hoon — who blocked the martial law — to block the 'oppa poison' lobbying pulled off by the Democratic Party's 'oppas.'" He jabbed back: "Chairman Kim says Kim Seung-won looks like a better pick the more you look at him. Funny — the more you look at the Democratic Party chairman, the more you see what a great pick he was."

In a statement, PPP floor chief spokesperson Choi Eun-seok said: "If this appointment were as good as claimed, there would be no reason to hide anything and no reason to block witnesses at the confirmation hearing. If Chairman Kim is so confident of his innocence, the Democratic Party should simply cooperate in adopting key witnesses and let every suspicion be tested before the people." The Democratic Party has so far refused to adopt witnesses for nominee Kim's confirmation hearing.