Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon answers reporters’ questions about Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won at the National Assembly’s Rotunda Hall on Sept. 9. Han, who served as justice minister under the previous administration and later led the then-ruling People Power Party, left the party following a conflict with its leadership. He won a parliamentary by-election in June and now serves as an independent lawmaker.YONHAP
Choi Min-woo
The author is the editor of political, international, foreign and security news at the JoongAng Ilbo.
What looked destined to be a stale rerun has become a smash hit. The “Kim Seung-won confirmation-hearing series,” starring the justice minister nominee and recycling old material such as the withdrawal of an indictment and his notorious “GSGG” remark, is outperforming the anticipated “Yong Hye-in” production and earlier hits featuring Kang Sun-woo and Lee Hye-hoon.
Much of the credit belongs to broker Yang. Her opening line — “Seung-won oppa,” using the term a female speaker calls an older male relative or acquaintance she knows well — was unforgettable. It is hard to believe she was previously unknown. Even veteran former lawmaker Choi Jae-sung complained that he felt “dragged in as an extra in a third-rate movie.” Critics dismiss the series as a lurid soap opera driven by voyeurism, but others praise its exploration of human nature.
First, romance. “I miss you so much I’m crying.” “What should I do? Should I run over now? I’ll come right now. Where are you?” Classic sweet nothings. They recall the dawn embrace in “One Fine Spring Day” (2001), when a drunken Yoo Ji-tae rushes overnight to Lee Young-ae in Gangneung.
Kim, meanwhile, supposedly knew that approval could generate hundreds of billions of won, yet told Yang, “My contribution is only 5 million won ($3,725), so you need to succeed. Everyone is moving because of you.” Love over money. Who could cast the first stone? An affair? Well, “It’s not a crime to fall in love,” as “The World of the Married” (2020) put it.
Second, absurdity. When suspicions surfaced, Kim called his intervention “a complaint in the public interest.” Did he really not know it was a private favor? He did. He merely needed a justification. He found one: preventing an outflow of national wealth.
When Yang sought his help, Kim muttered that it “concerns an outflow of national wealth.” When pressing the minister of food and drug safety, he twice texted that he was “worried about an outflow of national wealth.” The trembling brow and fingertips of a man denying what he knows to be true is the finest acting in the series.
The scene-stealer is then-MFDS Minister Kim Gang-lip. He appears to accommodate outside pressure while minimizing the risk of abuse-of-authority accusations. His secretary messaged an official: “The minister said he would look into it, but please make sure we don’t hear this sort of thing from that side [Kim Seung-won] again.” It drily captures the absurdity of bureaucracy.
Third, foreshadowing. The story is nonlinear. A month after approval of the new drug’s clinical trial, on Nov. 26, 2021, Yang told an acquaintance, “If the approval hadn’t come the next day, I would’ve had to return the money — 6.7 billion won.”
Initially, it sounded like boasting. Later came the money game. Just before approval, Genencell’s largest shareholder, Kang Se-chan, sold shares for 6.3 billion won. Yang received 600 million won in return. After approval, investors in Genencell dumped shares in Sejong Medical near their peak. The earlier line now looks like a clue to a meticulously planned stock operation.
Fourth, the twist. Kim described Yang’s rotation bar as “a restaurant or cafe frequented by legal professionals” and called her a “successful female entrepreneur.” He defended her repeatedly.
Then she touched the Blue House. When a recording surfaced in which Yang said Kim told her to “submit the report through BH,” Kim immediately called the claim “exaggerated or false.” Does even love disappear before power?
Yang supplies another twist. Now on trial for promising a bribe and violating the Attorney-at-Law Act, she told the court that 100 million won received from Kang was “a temporary loan between romantic partners.” So was Yang dating two men? The mystery deepens.
Until now, lawmaker Han Dong-hoon has carried the “Kim Seung-won series” as producer and director. The confirmation-hearing episode on Tuesday will effectively be the finale. Yet neither Han nor hero Yang is expected to appear. Are they afraid that more oppas might be exposed?
Can a show this successful really end in such haste? Even if Kim becomes justice minister, its popularity makes a second season seem inevitable.
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.
