"No Intention to Direct Withdrawal of Indictment"... Denies Allegations of Solicitation

[Anchor]

Lawmaker Kim Seung-won of the Democratic Party, nominated as Minister of Justice, stated regarding the withdrawal of the indictment in President Lee Jae-myung's case that the Minister of Justice has no direct authority and he has no intention to issue such a directive. Although he previously led a group of lawmakers within the party in strongly demanding the withdrawal of the indictment, he drew a line after being nominated as minister. He also denied various allegations surrounding him, including the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety solicitation case.

For our first story, reporter Kim Deok-hyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Lawmaker Kim Seung-won of the Democratic Party appeared before reporters for his first day at his confirmation hearing preparation office, four days after being nominated as Minister of Justice.

Nominee Kim first shared his aspirations as the implementation of the new criminal justice system approaches in a month.

[Kim Seung-won / Nominee for Minister of Justice: The new criminal justice system is being implemented for the first time in 70 years, and I hold a heavy sense of mission to ensure its smooth settlement. I will strive to ensure that judicial justice and fairness are realized.]

Nominee Kim previously served as co-representative of a group calling for the withdrawal of the indictment in President Lee Jae-myung's case.

[Kim Seung-won / Nominee for Minister of Justice (Feb. 12): (The prosecution) should voluntarily withdraw the indictment, which is only natural in a civilized country, but aren't they failing to do so now?]

When asked if his stance remained unchanged, he replied that the minister has no authority and that the decision should be made by the trial prosecutor who holds the authority.

[Kim Seung-won / Nominee for Minister of Justice: Not only do I have no direct authority as Minister of Justice to withdraw the indictment, but I also have no intention of issuing directives through the Prosecutor General.]

He expressed his position that the disposition of suspension of indictment he received for allegedly asking the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to expedite clinical trials for a COVID-19 treatment was unjust.

[Kim Seung-won / Nominee for Minister of Justice: An exhaustive investigation was conducted, but because a suspension of indictment was issued, I felt that was also unjust, so last year I filed a constitutional complaint regarding the suspension of indictment....]

Nominee Kim's camp emphasized, "It was a simple delivery of a public interest grievance petition rather than a solicitation for treatment approval," adding that no manual violations were found during the review process by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Regarding his past record of representing perpetrators of sex crimes, he expressed an apology while noting that there were cases where he was not substantially involved and others he took on in accordance with his usual beliefs.

[Kim Seung-won / Nominee for Minister of Justice: I humbly reflect on the aspects that did not meet the public's expectations....]

Despite these explanations, controversies surrounding various suspicions regarding Nominee Kim show no signs of subsiding, pointing to a tumultuous confirmation hearing process ahead.

(Photo courtesy of Yang Hyun-chul | Video Editing: Lee Seung-hee | Design: Kim Han-gil)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.