Jung Jeong-sik: "President Lee Jae-myung must withdraw Kim Seung-won's nomination"
Jung Jeong-sik, the floor leader of the People Power Party, urged President Lee Jae-myung on the 16th to withdraw his nomination of Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won as special prosecutor for dropping the charges. What problems surfaced at the confirmation hearing to warrant such a demand for withdrawal?
He also criticized the nominee's remark at the hearing that "I studied liberal arts, so I cannot know the efficacy of the treatment." Floor leader Jung said this amounted to an admission that Kim pressured the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety based solely on the word of broker Yang Mo, arguing that the response invoking his liberal arts background was evidence of a confession to unlawful solicitation.
People Power Party floor leader Jung Jeong-sik had earlier criticized the confirmation hearing. He pointed out that Democratic Party lawmakers had used expressions like "devil," "weapon," and "venomous snake" toward People Power Party members, saying that the real devils, weapons, and venomous snakes lie elsewhere. He said that forcing people to take a drug that killed hamsters was devilish, that those who exploited it for stock manipulation were like venomous snakes, and that nominee Kim Seung-won, who lobbied for such a drug, was himself a weapon against society.
Asked whether the personnel hearing reports for the three nominees would be adopted, floor leader Jung said he would have to discuss it with the committee members, but as floor leader, he believed it was not possible. He emphasized that ahead of the President's press conference on the 18th, rather than words about dropping charges and constitutional revision for consecutive terms, the President should show the concrete action of withdrawing Kim Seung-won's nomination.
Regarding Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister nominee Hong Ji-seon, it was confirmed that in May 2025, she and her spouse purchased an apartment in Guro-gu, Seoul, for 1.005 billion won and took out a bank loan of 367 million won using the property as collateral. It was also found that her spouse borrowed 170 million won from her mother-in-law at an annual interest rate of 4.6% with a written document, and that the loan repayment start period had been extended from one year to three years.
