"Faulty Snipping Scissors" vs. "Groundless Claim": Rival Parties Clash Over Witness List for Kim Seung-won Hearing

[Anchor]

As rival parties engage in a war of nerves over witnesses for the upcoming confirmation hearing, it has become increasingly likely that next week's hearing for Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won will proceed without any witnesses. Democratic Party Leader Kim Min-seok and Independent Lawmaker Han Dong-hun exchanged sharp barbs today (the 9th) regarding suspicions surrounding nominee Kim.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Democratic Party Leader Kim Min-seok opened fire on Independent Lawmaker Han Dong-hun today, stating:

[Kim Min-seok / Leader, Democratic Party : I believe the time has come when we have no choice but to thoroughly verify suspicions related to cabinet leaks and evidence manipulation.]

Regarding the transcripts related to nominee Kim Seung-won's "Ministry of Food and Drug Safety lobbying suspicions" continuously brought to light by Lawmaker Han, Leader Kim claimed that such disclosures could not occur without internal collaborators within the prosecution, calling it a "spread of falsehoods" and the "malpractice of political prosecutors," while also ordering legal measures.

He twisted Han's past nickname from his days as a prosecutor, saying:

[Kim Min-seok / Leader, Democratic Party : Wouldn't it be more accurate to call him a 'rogue prosecutor of the Chosun era' or 'rogue snipping scissors of the Chosun era'?]

Lawmaker Han hit back, dismissing Leader Kim's remarks as "groundless personal fantasies" and threatening to take criminal action for the spread of false information.

[Han Dong-hun / Independent Lawmaker : (Leader Kim Min-seok) asserted with his own guesswork that I received data from the prosecution. I assert categorically that I have never received any data from the prosecution, nor have I ever collaborated with the prosecution in any way.]

In response to claims that the "transcript was doctored," he refuted them by stating that he only uploaded the necessary parts and did not edit them.

The ruling and opposition parties are locked in a direct confrontation over the adoption of witnesses for nominee Kim's confirmation hearing.

The People Power Party demanded that 44 people be called as witnesses, including Kang Se-chan, the founder of Genenex, who is connected to the "Ministry of Food and Drug Safety lobbying suspicions," a broker surnamed Yang, and former Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Chief Kim Kang-lip. In response, the Democratic Party countered that not a single witness would be allowed, arguing that the case was already closed due to the prosecution's disposition of suspension of indictment.

[Park Hyung-su / Lawmaker, People Power Party : It is our duty to resolve public suspicions. Yet you intend to run a hollow hearing without a single witness?]

[Kim Eui-kyeom / Lawmaker, Democratic Party : If you try to dig up a failed case from back then and repeat it endlessly in an infinite loop, shouldn't that be unacceptable?]

The confirmation hearing for nominee Kim will be held on the 15th.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
(Video Reported by Oh Young-chun, Lee Seung-hwan | Video Edited by Yu Mira)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.