[Joo Young-jin's News Briefing]
When quoting this interview, please explicitly cite the program name 'SBS <Joo Young-jin's News Briefing>'. Copyright belongs to SBS.
■ Broadcast: SBS <Joo Young-jin's News Briefing> Mon–Fri (14:00–15:20)
■ Host: Anchor Joo Young-jin
■ Guest: Democratic Party of Korea Lawmaker Song Ki-hun
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● <Democratic Party Lawmaker Song Ki-hun> Interview
"Science and ICT Committee piles up major pending issues, including the 'Three Major Mega Projects'"
"'Recusal resolution on Lee Jin-sook' aimed at recusal from agenda items dating back to her tenure as KCC Chair"
"R&D budget size insufficient compared to overall budget increase... to secure more during review process"
"NEC must be reformed... proposed renaming it to the 'National Suffrage Commission'"
"Regrettable that Kim Seung-won fell out of touch with public sentiment on 'new drug lobbying allegations'"
"Yong Hye-in, unlike Kim Seung-won, is an 'emotional issue'... not easy to recover"
"Opposition asking the president to state 'no amendment for reelection'? A flawed issue to raise"
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▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Lawmaker Song Ki-hun of the Democratic Party of Korea is here with us. Welcome.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Good to be here.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: In short, it is referred to as the Science and ICT Committee Chair, but what is the official title? Isn't it the longest one?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: It is the Chair of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Science, ICT, broadcasting, communications. Wow, that covers a massive scope of fields. Looking at it, it seems all the future of the Republic of Korea rests on these areas.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: These days, the future of the Republic of Korea clearly lies particularly in science, technology, and ICT. Looking at broadcasting, since what South Korea does best—K-content—is connected to broadcasting, where our country goes in the future depends heavily on our standing committee.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Right after being designated as committee chair, what thoughts did you have? In fact, you haven't been very active in the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee so far.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: I served on it for about five months.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: About five months. What resolution came to your mind first?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: The three major mega projects currently being pursued by the Lee Jae-myung administration.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: The three major mega projects. AI.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: AI, then data centers, and physical AI. I thought, 'This is the future of the Republic of Korea.' Second, regarding broadcasting-related issues, most were settled after various controversies during the first half of the term, so in the second half, rather than focusing on corporate governance or such matters, we need to focus on issues related to the operation and production of broadcasting.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: That would mean areas such as regulatory reform.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Exactly.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Broadcasting is always closest to our citizens.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: That's right.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Many experts assess that broadcasting is reaching a major turning point.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: There are two aspects. One reason broadcasting is important is that it serves as the greatest pillar of democracy, and another is that it serves as the greatest fountainhead of culture, so to speak. In that sense, it is also a vital area.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: I see. You have become the chair responsible for managing a vital standing committee at a very crucial time. Watching the video earlier, as People Power Party Lawmaker Lee Jin-sook joined the committee, a resolution demanding recusal emerged, and in the National Assembly, a resolution urging expulsion also came up. It seems running the committee won't be easy.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: That is all the more reason to meet and talk frequently, and especially since there are floor whips from both parties, I intend to manage things by consulting closely with the whips. In any case, those matters are what they are, but because there is much work left to do, I believe we must get to work. Lawmaker Lee Jin-sook joining our committee was the People Power Party's choice and something she applied for herself, so our party cannot fault that in itself. However, the issue is that, as we stated in our recusal resolution, reviewing the work she herself carried out inevitably leads to a conflict of interest. We do not mean to exclude her from committee activities in general. She served as the head of the Korea Communications Commission, didn't she? The measures she handled while serving as KCC chair could later become subjects of deliberation and various audits during our committee's parliamentary inspection. In those instances, it would become about her own actions. Our recusal resolution was passed to the effect that she must recuse herself from such matters.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Then that issue will immediately become a subject of controversy during this upcoming parliamentary inspection.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: I expect it will continue to be a subject of controversy whenever that part is addressed.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: But do you plan to hold firmly to that principle?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: I believe we should adhere to it as much as possible.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: If the People Power Party uses that as leverage to decide whether or not to cooperate in operating the National Assembly standing committee, isn't there a risk of the committee falling into deadlock? A standing committee chair always has to worry about such things.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: It must be managed well. The floor whips of both parties need to consult, and I think it would be good to establish clear boundaries. Because this was a resolution urging recusal, it merely expressed our stance; enforcing it or taking mandatory measures is a different matter, so we must consider those aspects carefully.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: In any case, budget deliberation is a very important task, the biggest undertaking of this regular National Assembly session. From the committee's perspective, you must be paying close attention to budget deliberations regarding the three major mega projects and AI-related budgets mentioned earlier.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: That's right. It increased significantly compared to last year. Especially the R&D sector saw a substantial increase, and within R&D, the fields we are currently focusing on saw major growth, so I feel those areas must be further secured. To be honest, from our perspective, it feels a bit lacking. Compared to the total budget expansion, the scale of increase in R&D funds is not entirely satisfactory, and there are several specific areas where we believe we must provide key additional support, but those areas were left with insufficient budgets. Therefore, we believe more funding should be secured for them during the budget review process.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: That means you also have in mind reflecting or increasing those allocations. Understood. While serving as the National Assembly committee chair, when I looked through recent articles and news in the Democratic Party, I found that you are also serving as head of the Democratic Party's National Suffrage NEC Reform Task Force. Has a plan emerged on how to reform the National Election Commission?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Yesterday, the task force finalized its framework and delivered the constitutional amendment-related aspects to Kim Tae-nyeon, head of the Constitutional Amendment Promotion Group, while submitting an amendment bill for legislative matters such as the National Election Commission Act. Moving forward, there are also practical working-level aspects of election administration that we need to fix further. We plan to consult thoroughly with those in charge of those areas and add them in the future as well.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: You are considering changing the name of the National Election Commission.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: We felt the name 'National Election Commission' itself carries an overly passive impression.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Managing elections sounds passive.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: So we decided to propose renaming it the 'National Suffrage Commission' and submitted that to the Special Committee on Constitutional Amendment. Also, what we consider most important is that the chairperson is currently chosen through mutual election within the commission.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: The chairperson.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: And because Supreme Court justices concurrently hold the position, that has been the tradition. In practice, there has been a tendency to perceive election administration duties as somewhat secondary on top of their main judicial duties.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: It wasn't a full-time position.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: We are moving toward making the NEC chairperson a full-time position and revising the selection method to ensure accountability. And after doing so, while protecting its independence, we want to establish an audit committee system so oversight can take place within that independence. That is the direction we are taking.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Does reforming the National Election Commission require a constitutional amendment? Or could it—
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: There are parts requiring a constitutional amendment, and there are parts that can be done by amending the current National Election Commission Act. Currently, there is only one standing commissioner, but changing it to three standing commissioners, or having only standing members—such changes are possible by revising the National Election Commission Act. Within the possible scope, we have already submitted amendment bills.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Incidents that the public finds completely incomprehensible, such as the shortage of ballot papers—how do you envision reforming the system to prevent such things from happening again?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Regarding that issue, we are considering legally allowing the National Election Commission to deliberate and decide directly while making the criteria explicit. Although we have not yet decided to what extent, we are pushing to establish legal standards.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Reforming the NEC seems to be a truly important issue. Isn't it a lesson taught to the public and to us by this local election?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: It is about the right to vote. It is an issue regarding suffrage, and in a democratic country like ours, isn't suffrage one of the most fundamental rights?
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Voters and sovereign citizens simply trust that. They trust that our right of participation is being well protected and properly managed.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Suffrage must be exercised properly so the will of the people can be accurately reflected in forming the government, so it is just that critical.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: I hope the Democratic Party develops a sound proposal and carries out NEC reform successfully.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: There is still much more work to be done going forward.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Also, Lawmaker Song Ki-hun, you come from a legal background, right? Do you know Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won well? You probably know him well.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: I know him well. I know him well, and I had high expectations at first, but it is truly regrettable that some aspects deviated slightly from public sentiment. For my part, because he had worked closely with President Lee Jae-myung in various capacities, I thought he would manage the Ministry of Justice well under the Lee Jae-myung administration and cleanly handle the follow-up work resulting from the revision of our Criminal Procedure Act. He had practical experience and had served on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee for a long time, but recently surfaced issues have weighed heavily on public sentiment.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: The new drug lobbying allegations.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: That's right. I believe that needs to be settled properly, and I think the confirmation hearing is taking place today, isn't it?
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: The hearing is next week, on the 15th, I believe.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: If it is next week, he probably needs to explain himself there in a way that aligns with public sentiment by then.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Meaning nominee Kim Seung-won needs to explain himself well to turn around public opinion, which has been largely negative so far.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: He will need to persuade the public much more.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: He needs to persuade them. Understood. What about nominee Yong Hye-in?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: The issue with nominee Yong Hye-in differs from that of nominee Kim Seung-won. In the case of nominee Kim Seung-won, there are factual truths, degrees, and aspects that require fact-checking, aren't there? In nominee Yong Hye-in's case, it is not such an issue, but purely an emotional one. It is being brought up as a matter of fairness. We also find that very regrettable. In truth, I believe recovering from an emotional issue is not easy.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Do you feel that even more while serving in politics?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Especially today, she held a press conference, and the content of that press conference also does not sit well with the public sentiment. That is why I think it is becoming increasingly difficult.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Becoming increasingly difficult. As nominee Kim Seung-won was nominated for Minister of Justice, the People Power Party immediately pointed out that he served as co-representative of the lawmakers' group seeking to drop the indictment, claiming this ministerial nomination was intended to dismiss President Lee Jae-myung's criminal trials by dropping the indictment. What do you think about that, coming from a legal background within the Democratic Party?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Speaking first about the group seeking to drop the indictment, it wasn't actually spearheaded by Lawmaker Kim Seung-won from the start. Lawmaker Kim served as the whip of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, so I believe he took on the role of representative for that group. Dropping an indictment is heavily considered in places like the United States as well; discussions on dropping indictments took place under the premise that if an indictment is clearly illegal, maintaining an illegal state of prosecution is inappropriate. The current view of most Democratic Party lawmakers is that if an indictment is dropped under the current conditions, our party and the Lee Jae-myung administration cannot withstand it. That perception exists. Only when it has been clearly verified as illegal and determined that the indictment cannot be sustained would it naturally be considered. But right now, things have not reached that stage yet, so at this stage, it is not the time to recommend dropping the indictment—that is my view as well as that of many lawmakers.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: That is the atmosphere inside the Democratic Party. So the special counsel act hasn't passed yet, right?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Yes, that is correct.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: If the special counsel act passes and is launched, should a thorough investigation first uncover whether it was a fabricated indictment or not?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: It must be uncovered, and it needs to reach the point where indictments can be brought.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: It needs to reach the point of indictment.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: If people are indicted, the two cannot coexist with the previous indictment. In such a scenario, an atmosphere could be created where the indictment might be dropped. However, whether the special counsel would be the one to do that is another controversial question. I believe we cannot proceed with something that carries such controversy.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Should the special counsel not be granted the authority to drop indictments?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Exactly. If that happens, the special counsel itself would face difficulties and uncovering the truth itself would become difficult. The investigation itself would lose legitimacy, so my view is that it would be difficult to proceed that way.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Also, speaking as a legal expert, today President Lee Jae-myung returned from France. Regarding his constitutional amendment for reelection, which was raised as an issue by the opposition, President Lee said, "My term is limited by the Constitution." Can we listen to that? There is a statement President Lee Jae-myung made in France regarding his term; let's listen to it and hear what Lawmaker Song Ki-hun, who has a legal background, thinks about President Lee Jae-myung's intentions. Let's watch together.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: That exact part. Because my term is clearly limited by the Constitution. How do you view this?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: I believe he was stating that his term is clearly restricted to a single five-year term under the Constitution.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: The People Power Party is criticizing him again for not explicitly stating that he will not pursue a constitutional amendment for reelection.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: I believe responding to an issue raised in an inappropriate manner is not proper. Raising the issue itself is flawed. Questioning something that is already set in the Constitution is intrinsically misguided. I don't think there is any need to answer yes or no to that. My view is that the president has no need to go out of his way to state that.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Do you believe those words are sufficient?
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Absolutely. There is an explicit constitutional limitation.
▷ Joo Young-jin / Anchor: Understood. This was an interview with Lawmaker Song Ki-hun, who serves as Chair of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and Head of the Democratic Party's National Suffrage NEC Reform Task Force. Thank you for speaking with us today.
▶ Song Ki-hun / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Thank you.
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