Justice minister nominee hits back over lobbying allegations

Justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won said Tuesday, that if he is appointed, he will prevent information about an investigation by the police or prosecution from being “used politically.”

His pledge is an apparent counterattack against independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon’s disclosure of probe materials about Kim’s alleged illegal lobbying activities. The justice minister nominee said Han, a former prosecutor, should disclose how he obtained the investigation materials.

"If I am given the opportunity to serve as minister, I will correct [the practice of] the political use of investigative information," Kim said in his opening remarks at his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly.

Kim, also a two-term lawmaker, was suspected of using his influence to lobby for the approval of a pharmaceutical company's COVID-19 clinical drug trial in October 2021, although prosecutors later suspended the indictment following an investigation.

Han brought back the allegation after Kim's nomination was announced. Kim and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) then claimed that Han obtained confidential information from the prosecution and used it to attack the nominee.

Han's background has given Kim room to portray himself as a victim of a politically motivated prosecution and underscore the need for follow-up measures to implement prosecution reform, a task he said he would take on if appointed.

“If appointed minister, I will make sure to find out whether confidential internal prosecution materials were leaked to Rep. Han,” Kim said.

He added that the materials Han disclosed were internal documents which neither suspects nor lawyers could not access, calling for an inspection to find out whether investigation materials involving other political cases could also have been leaked.

Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the DPK, who chaired Kim’s confirmation hearing as head of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, backed the nominee’s claims and called for an investigation into the alleged leak of prosecution materials.

“If materials that should never have left the prosecution ended up in someone else’s hands, that would be a serious crime,” Seo said. “We need to thoroughly investigate how that happened, trace the log-in records and identify who accessed the materials.”

Seo went on to note that Kim was investigated for three years during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, while Han was the justice minister.

“They thoroughly investigated him under Han and still found nothing substantial enough to prosecute him,” Seo said. “They should be apologizing to him, but instead, aren’t they trying to trap him?”

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) accused Kim and the DPK of “brazenly turning the tables” on his critics instead of addressing the suspicions against him.

Rep. Park Hyeung-soo of the PPP criticized the DPK for refusing to call people involved in the lobbying case as witnesses, and Kim for failing to submit all requested materials.

“The DPK is turning this into a hollow and inadequate hearing,” Park said.

In addition to the lobbying case, the hearing also addressed suspicions that a cooperative run by Kim’s wife received preferential treatment for a government-funded voucher program.

The allegations center on whether his family improperly benefited from public funds intended for children with developmental disabilities.

Meanwhile, Kim apologized for the controversies surrounding him, saying, “I am sorry for causing public concern over the suspicions involving me.”

He also pledged to oversee the transition to a new criminal justice system that separates investigative and prosecutorial powers.