Confirmation hearing reports adopted for justice, defense minister nominees
Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won attends his parliamentary confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
Parliamentary confirmation hearing reports were adopted for the justice and defense minister nominees Thursday amid objections from the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).
The parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee adopted a confirmation hearing report for Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won as the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) forged ahead despite PPP lawmakers' boycott, protesting that allegations surrounding Kim were not fully addressed.
"None of the allegations raised during the hearing have been resolved," PPP Rep. Park Hyeung-soo said before walking out of the session.
The DPK argued that the nominee sufficiently explained himself during Tuesday's confirmation hearing, including claims that he illegally lobbied the food and drug safety ministry to speed up approval for a COVID-19 treatment in 2021 at a broker's request.
Kim, a two-term lawmaker, served as a judge at the Jeonju District Court and the Suwon District Court before joining the presidential office under the liberal Moon Jae-in administration, where he worked in the office of political affairs.
He was elected to the 21st National Assembly in 2020 and later served as the DPK's legal affairs committee chief. He also played a key role in passing the revision to the Criminal Procedure Act as a ranking member of the legislation committee.
The parliamentary national defense committee separately adopted a confirmation hearing report for Defense Minister nominee Kang Shin-chul, also amid a boycott by PPP lawmakers.
Rep. Kim Byung-joo, the DPK's senior committee member, said Kang demonstrated a strong commitment to various reform tasks pushed by the Lee Jae Myung administration during his confirmation hearing, including the transfer of wartime operational control from the United States and the integration of military academies of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Kang also appeared fit to manage the Korea-U.S. alliance as a former deputy commander of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and showed a strong understanding of policy issues, the lawmaker said.
Rep. Lim Jong-deuk, the PPP's senior committee member, however, disputed the nominee's fitness to serve, citing his failure to properly address suspicions surrounding his son's purchase of commercial property.
Lim also took issue with the DP's refusal to call witnesses to Kang's confirmation hearing.