Kim Min-seok Warns: "Raising Personnel Issues Externally, How Is That Any Different from an Opposition Party?"

Democratic Party Leader Kim Min-seok stated, "Ruling party members at least at the lawmaker level should voice their opinions regarding presidential personnel affairs within the party."

Appearing on 'Minti07' on the party's official YouTube channel 'Minjoo Party TV,' Kim answered a viewer comment suggesting that 'Lawmaker Kim Yong-min should be reassigned from the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee,' by saying, "It is better to make suggestions internally where possible."

He added, "I believe this refers to raising issues regarding prosecution reform and the appointment of Kim Ji-yong, nominee for head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency," and "It seems to be a point regarding what manner the ruling party should use to raise questions about the president's appointment power."

Such remarks are interpreted as targeting Lawmaker Kim Yong-min and Gyeonggi Province Governor Choo Mi-ae, who have recently publicly criticized the nomination of nominee Kim.

Leader Kim said, "For example, when someone says person A has this or that problem, there are cases during the vetting process where that turns out not to be true," adding, "There are quite a few instances based on incorrect rumors or public reputation."

He continued, "Since those conducting the vetting have responsibility, people can raise questions, but raising issues within the ruling party must be done with greater caution," adding, "It would be better to go through internal procedures."

Kim emphasized, "If someone expresses it externally right away without going through such (internal procedures), how would that be any different from an opposition party?" He added, "After going through all of that and having debates back and forth, a situation comes where the appointing authority makes the final decision. At that point, because it is a decision reflecting the agony of the appointing authority with everything taken into consideration, that decision must be respected."

When the host mentioned that 'there are also opinions calling for party discipline regarding cases where lines are severely crossed,' Kim replied, "You mentioned removing (Lawmaker Kim) from the standing committee, and if it is deemed inappropriate, that, among other actions, could be one of several options."

He also said, "One of the things President Lee Jae-myung mentioned during his press conference, and which commentators also spoke about afterward, is that we should refrain from intra-party battles involving so-called derogatory terms, disparagement of counterparts, or unrefined, abusive language," adding, "There are even talks saying, 'Those who have used such expressions so far should apologize.'"

He continued, "Looking back, there have been quite a few cases where mutual slurs were used by certain individuals and within certain communities," stressing, "Because all of us have accumulated conflicts, we are at a juncture where it is necessary to look at the counterpart from their perspective and also examine whether there is any speck of dust on our own side."

Regarding the mention that "Writer Rhyu Si-min, a pro-ruling-bloc commentator, made an analogy that a pebble in a shoe is isolating the president politically,"

and the question that "Talk is emerging about whether 'pebble' is a derogatory term," Kim replied, "Before that, there were terms like 'juvenile delinquent subcontractors,' so where do we draw the line for derogatory terms?" adding, "If one feels it is harassment, it is called harassment, but I hope people put themselves in each other's shoes and make efforts to soften and restrain themselves a bit more."
 
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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