On the 7th, the Democratic Party of Korea continued to provide cover by forming a dedicated response team to Minister of Justice candidate Kim Seung-won, who was suspected of 'requesting approval for clinical trials of new drugs'.
This is because the conservative opposition, including the People Power Party and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, is increasing its level of offensive against candidate Kim, and it is judged that an all-out response at the party level is necessary.
Chief Spokesperson Park Seong-joon met with reporters after the closed-door Supreme Council meeting and said, “The party needs to actively respond to the negativity toward candidate Kim.”
The response team includes Supreme Council members Han Min-soo and Jeon Yong-ki, Jo Gye-won spokesperson, and Legislative and Judiciary member Rep. Kim Dong-ah.
Chief Spokesperson Park explained, "Regarding Candidate Kim's personal response, there was a statement (from the highest level) that the candidate must respond quickly. The candidate's preparation team has a role to play," and added, "(The party) has a dedicated response team set up to respond to the negative."
In response to criticism from the conservative opposition, they took cover, calling it a 'strong meeting.'
In particular, they counterattacked independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who raised related suspicions, by asking about the circumstances in which the recording was obtained.
Rep. Kim Eui-gyeom, the ruling party's secretary on the Legislative and Judiciary Committee, appeared on MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' and said, "This was a case that was swept up in a frenzy during the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and Minister Han Dong-hoon, so could there be a harsher verification than that?" He added, "It is a case that Han Dong-hoon's division has already verified in advance."
At the same time, he criticized one lawmaker, saying, "They are turning the case into 'Sunday Seoul' through excerpts, distortions, and editing." "Seeing the skill of cutting out investigation records and editing them with scissors, I click my tongue and want to give them a new nickname, 'Chosun's Best Scissors.'"
Rep. Park Ji-won, a member of the Judiciary Committee, also pointed out, "15 prosecutors including Yoon Seok-yeol and Han Dong-hoon investigated candidate Kim for three years. If there is a mistake, will they send him to prison and suspend the indictment?" He added, "We must first reveal why the indictment was suspended and where Rep. Han obtained the transcript."
However, he drew a line with Yong Hye-in, the candidate for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, who has been criticized for concurrently serving as a proportional representative member and the controversy over the privatization of the party, saying, "We must make a good judgment in accordance with the public's perspective."
Rep. Lee Su-jin, the ruling party's secretary for the Gender Equality and Family Committee, appeared on KBS Radio's 'Blitz Current Affairs' and said, "We need a hearing to be held quickly so that we can have the opportunity to verify our beliefs," but added, "As this is a position that must meet the public's expectations and requires high morality and political responsibility, there are a lot of suspicions being raised."
Representative Park also predicted, “No matter how right you think you are, you cannot hold any public office unless the people think it is right.” He added, “We will only find out after the hearing, but I think it will be difficult for (Candidate Yong) to endure.”
