Kim Min-seok Calls Prosecutor Remnants 'Attention-Seeking Politics'… Han Dong-hee Retorts, 'I'll Pull Out All Your Teeth'

The verbal clash between the Democratic Party and Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon over the controversy surrounding Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won is escalating.

Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok claimed today (September 11) regarding the continuous offensive by Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, a former prosecutor and justice minister, who has raised allegations regarding the nominee's "solicitation for new drug clinical trial approval" through the release of transcripts, that "the essence of the current situation is that the continuous acts of rebellion by the remaining prosecutorial forces resisting prosecutorial reform are being exposed through Han Dong-hoon's attention-seeking politics."

He added, "Whether illegal materials were leaked or recognized and utilized, they are all part of an illegal material connection network," and "this illegal material connection network will be completely rooted out and punished through this opportunity."

He also stated, "Public sentiment demanding the punishment of lawmaker Han is growing," and "Even if I do not intentionally use the word 'out,' I believe public judgment is already moving toward casting him out."

Democratic Party Supreme Council member Park Sun-won claimed, "Lawmaker Han is distorting the situation as if he is staging a grand show through a righteous whistleblower," adding, "A person surnamed Cho, who claims to be a public interest whistleblower, suffered losses while doing business with a person surnamed Yang and attempted to extort money from Yang by threatening to expose alleged lobbying of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety."

He continued, "We suspect that Cho, having failed to recover funds or get his investment back and failing to achieve his purpose, established ties with the People Power Party and reported the alleged lobbying of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office," and urged, "The Ministry of Justice must immediately conduct an inspection to preemptively block evidence destruction by internal prosecutors cooperating with Han Dong-hoon."

In response, Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon attended a press conference held at the National Assembly today for "victims of stock manipulation involving Genencell and Sejong Medical tied to Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won," where he reacted sharply, stating that the Democratic Party "virtually disclosed the identity of the public interest whistleblower and slandered them," which is "extremely cowardly and illegal."

Lawmaker Han pointed out, "Everyone, including leader Kim and those on the Supreme Council, is an accomplice," adding, "Disclosing information that makes it possible to virtually identify the public interest whistleblower is a serious crime punishable by up to 5 years in prison," and asking, "Should we just sit back and watch political forces outing a public interest whistleblower?"

He further raised the level of criticism, warning, "I issue a warning to the 'Democratic Party guys' including Kim Min-seok," and adding, "Do not bare your teeth and bite at the victims of stock manipulation or the whistleblowers. On behalf of the public, I will pull out all your teeth."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.