DUP opens salvo on PM nominee

Moon Hee-sang, interim leader of the Democratic United Party, right, speaks with Jung Hae-gu, head of the political reform committee at the DUP, during an emergency committee meeting held at the party’s headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-geun

By Chung Min-uck

Kim Yong-joon, prime ministerial nominee

The main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) is ratcheting up its offensive against Kim Yong-joon, the prime ministerial nominee for President-elect Park Geun-hye’s new government, pledging to verify allegations surrounding Kim during an upcoming confirmation hearing.

“If Kim tries to evade telling the truth about his flaws, more trouble will be waiting for him,” said Rep. Park Ki-choon, floor leader of the DUP, during an emergency committee meeting, Monday. “Even before holding a confirmation hearing, Kim should reveal the truth and apologize to the public.”

“I hear Kim saying that those allegations are not a big deal since they do not equate to criminal acts,” said Rep. Woo Won-shik, vice floor leader of the DUP. “That’s wrong. Thorough verification is necessary in terms of his ethical qualification.”

Rep. Moon Hee-sang, interim leader of the party, also attended the meeting calling for strict verification of the suspicions surrounding the nominee and his two sons during the forthcoming hearing.

The nominee’s parliamentary confirmation hearing is expected to take place sometime in early February before Park’s inauguration on Feb. 25.

His appointment is subject to approval by the parliament.

Park, last week, nominated Kim, her transition committee chief and a former Constitutional Court head, to be the first prime minister of the incoming government. It marked the first nomination of a Cabinet post by Park.

Since then, opposition lawmakers have raised questions over how Kim’s two sons, who are now in their mid-40s, were exempted from military service.

By law, all able-bodied men here must fulfill military service. Previously, nominees for high-level governmental posts were often forced to step down because they or their sons were found to have evaded such service.

The transition team countered that the exemptions were legitimate because one son was exempted for being underweight while the other suffered from gout.

Media reports have also raised allegations regarding Kim’s speculative investment on real estate, and the two sons for engaging in a hefty property deal when they were 6 and 8 years old.

The prime ministerial nominee lately said in a media interview that he is “confident in eliminating all the suspicions” since they have “nothing to do with bribery or embezzlement which matches that of a criminal act.”

Meanwhile, the ruling Saenuri Party sticks to the position of “hearing out the nominee’s explanation” before making further accusations.

Political watchers say that Kim’s successful parliamentary approval is a must for the president-elect because if it fails, it could affect the passage of other bills needed for the launch of a new government such as the governmental restructuring plan.