Shouts, tears, accusations and insults: Justice minister nominee's confirmation hearing starts ugly
Kim Seung-won denied favoritism and lobbying allegations as lawmakers clashed over missing documents, disability facility subsidies and leaked records.
Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won wipes tears from his eyes after speaking during his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 15.NEWS1
Things got nasty early at Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday, with partisan wrangling, accusations, tears and even lawmakers trading insults about each other's physical appearances.
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) fired first over missing witnesses and documents. The ruling Democratic Party (DP) countered that the opposition was engineering a political fight.
“Not a single witness has been called, and this has become a hearing in name only,” said Rep. Park Hyeung-soo, the PPP’s ranking member on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. “The nominee appears to be taking the same approach, making little effort to comply with requests for documents.”
Park then accused Kim of hypocrisy, citing Kim’s earlier criticism of Shim Woo-jung during Shim’s confirmation hearing for prosecutor general. Nominee Kim served as a DP lawmaker when Shim was appointed by the previous PPP-led administration in 2024.
“Kim accused Shim of ‘gutting the hearing’ after he failed to submit 70 percent of the requested documents,” Park said. “Now Kim himself has withheld 243 of 376 requested documents, or 64.6 percent.”
Kim Eui-kyeom, the DP’s ranking member on the committee, rejected the attack as an attempt to revive a case that had already been exhaustively investigated.
“Prosecutors threw 11 prosecutors at this for two years and picked through everything, and the court acquitted him,” Kim said. “He has already faced scrutiny 100 or 1,000 times harsher than a confirmation hearing. Turning this into another political fight is incredibly wasteful.”
DP Rep. Kim Dong-ah joined the offensive and shifted the focus to Han Dong-hoon, an independent lawmaker who first accused Kim of improperly helping secure clinical trial approval for a failed Covid-19 vaccine project. DP Rep. Kim demanded documents related to allegations that investigative records had been leaked to Han.
People Power Party lawmakers protest during a confirmation hearing for Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 15.YONHAP
Tempers flared among lawmakers as well, especially when PPP Rep. Joo Jin-woo alleged preferential treatment involving a welfare facility run by nominee Kim’s wife.
“This goes too far,” DP Rep. Kim Nam-hee said. “Parents of children with developmental disabilities say they have been hurt and distressed by these allegations.”
Kim faced allegations that his wife operated an unauthorized school for children with developmental disabilities and received some 880 million won ($646,400) in government voucher payments funded by the state budget over four years.
The dispute then spilled into a personal war of words between PPP Rep. Kim Tae-kyu and DP Rep. Park Kyoon-taek. After sparring over why one was pointing a finger at the other, the lawmakers traded insults about each other’s appearances, with one even likening an “ugly face” to a “weapon.”
The uproar briefly subsided after committee chair Seo Young-kyo of the DP called for order, but tensions flared again when Joo defended his allegations.
Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won is seen during his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 15.NEWS1
“What I’m saying is that a preferential arrangement in which only members of Kim’s family are paid salaries is unjust,” PPP Rep. Joo said.
Rep. Kim Dong-ah directed a blunt insult at Joo. “You’re a devil. A devil,” he said.
“What did you just say?” Joo shot back. “What’s evil is pocketing subsidies intended for families of people with developmental disabilities.”
Nominee Kim was eventually given the floor to defend himself. “At the Korea Child Development Center [translated], where my wife works, every decision is made by the parents,” Kim said. “My wife received no benefit or preferential treatment whatsoever.”
Kim shed tears as he continued to defend his wife.
“On weekends, my wife would bring children with developmental disabilities to our home and have them stay overnight so their parents could get some rest. She cared for those children with love. Rep. Joo’s allegations are deeply hurtful,” Kim said.
Democratic Party Rep. Seo Young-kyo wipes away tears while listening to Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won's testimony at his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 15.SCREEN CAPTURE
Committee chair Seo and Jinbo Party Rep. Son Sol were also seen wiping away tears.
The political brawl consumed the first 70 minutes of the hearing before substantive questioning could begin.
The hearing also covered the so-called Oppagate scandal, which centers on allegations that a broker surnamed Yang asked the nominee Kim to use his political influence to expedite approval of a clinical trial for Genencell’s Covid-19 treatment. The drug developer was later accused of hiding negative lab testing results when it applied for regulatory approval.
The approval of Genencell’s clinical trial request has also been linked to an alleged stock manipulation scheme.
Asked by DP Rep. Kim Dong-ah about allegations that he had improperly lobbied on behalf of a new drug, the nominee denied any wrongdoing. “Prosecutors confirmed there was no improper solicitation and that the petition I relayed did not lead to any steps in the clinical trial approval process being skipped, any preferential treatment or any procedural violations,” Kim said.
Independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon speaks about the nomination of Kim Seung-won at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Sept. 15.NEWS1
Kim then turned his fire on Han.
“Even I was denied the investigative records when I asked prosecutors for them, despite having received a suspended indictment,” Kim said. “I cannot understand how those records ended up in the hands of former [Justice] Minister Han Dong-hoon. I believe we need to get to the bottom of it.”
PPP Rep. Kwak Kyu-taek raised a new allegation that former DP lawmaker Shin Hyun-young had intervened in the clinical trial process for Genencell’s Covid-19 treatment.
“Two of the hospitals involved in the human clinical trials were Bucheon St. Mary’s Hospital and Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital,” Kwak said. “The question was how they could push for the trials to be approved so quickly. When I looked for a possible connection, I found then-Rep. Shin Hyun-young.”
Kwak alleged that Kim, who was close to Shin at the time, offered to help and that his involvement led the two Catholic medical school hospitals to participate in the trials.
Kim flatly denied the account. “That is the logic pushed by politically motivated prosecutors on the investigative team,” Kim said. “The prosecution investigated it at the time. I never met [Yang or Shin].”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
