"No Grounds to Drop Kim Seung-won" ... "Will Take to the Streets if Appointed"

[Anchor]

Criticism has emerged that yesterday's (September 15) confirmation hearing for Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won was short on vetting and dominated by partisan strife. Although the hearing has ended, the ruling and opposition parties clashed again today. The Democratic Party defended the nominee as the right person for the post with no disqualifying factors, while the People Power Party threatened to take to the streets in protest if the appointment is pushed through.

Reporter Kim Jin-woo has our top story.

[Reporter]

Democratic Party lawmakers on the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee stepped forward today to defend nominee Kim Seung-won, stating that the parliamentary confirmation hearing confirmed he is the "right person for justice administration."

[Kim Gi-pyo / Democratic Party Lawmaker: The nominee answered faithfully based on materials and facts. No critical disqualifying factors that would hinder him from performing his duties were found.]

The Democratic Party claimed that the hearing turned into an arena for political squabbling rather than a verification of qualifications due to unreasonable arguments by the People Power Party.

In contrast, the People Power Party raised its voice calling for nominee Kim to be dropped, saying the confirmation hearing demonstrated he is the "worst Justice Minister nominee in history."

[Jeong Jeom-sik / People Power Party Floor Leader: The nominee's remarks referring to his liberal arts background serve as evidence confessing to an illegal solicitation. Finding it difficult even to make excuses, they traded tears and degraded the confirmation hearing into a melodrama.]

In a phone call with SBS, Party Leader Jang Dong-hyeok stated, "If the ruling bloc pushes ahead with nominee Kim's appointment, we plan to launch an all-out battle, including street protests."

The People Power Party is expected to make a final decision regarding street demonstrations after holding a public reporting convention at the National Assembly on September 22 to highlight the administration's policy failures.

The parliamentary confirmation hearing for nominee Kim, which was conducted without a single witness or expert, concluded around midnight last night, drawing public criticism as a "deficient vetting" overshadowed by political battles.

The Democratic Party plans to push for the adoption of the confirmation hearing report as early as tomorrow, but an agreed adoption appears unlikely amid the partisan standoff.

In that case, the President may set a period of up to 10 days to request that the National Assembly resend the report, and if that request also falls through, may proceed with the formal appointment process.

(Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video edited by Jeon Min-gyu)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.