Ahn Cheol-soo Claims Nominee Kim Seung-won Made Broker's Favor Call During Parliamentary Audit

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo claimed that Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won contacted a broker during a parliamentary audit at the National Assembly in 2021.

Writing on social media today (Sept. 10), Ahn stated, "The Democratic Party and nominee Kim released the full transcript of their communications with a broker surnamed Yang on October 12, 2021, to prove their innocence." He added, "Comparing the time of the calls released by nominee Kim with the National Assembly schedule, nominee Kim made the favor call right in the middle of reporting and questioning during the parliamentary audit by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee."

According to Ahn, nominee Kim spoke with Yang starting at 9:12 a.m., prior to the opening of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee audit, and promised to deliver a favor regarding the Minister of Food and Drug Safety. He then left his seat during the audit at 10:57 a.m. to contact the Minister of Food and Drug Safety, and exchanged text messages and calls with Yang between 11:23 a.m. and 11:50 a.m.

Ahn claimed, "Footage on National Assembly TV clearly captures nominee Kim returning after finishing his call with Yang and checking a text message from the Minister of Food and Drug Safety on his mobile phone."

He pointed out, "This is truly the behavior of a flagrant offender caught in the act of pathetic lobbying."

Ahn continued, "A parliamentary audit takes place once a year to examine the flaws of state affairs and convey the voices of the people, yet a lawmaker failed to focus on the audit and instead drifted in and out to lobby a high-ranking official under the sway of a broker." He emphasized, "This act alone self-negates the reason for a public official's existence."

Urging Kim to step down, Ahn stated, "Nominee Kim is not only unfit to be a minister, but he lacks even the qualifications to be a lawmaker."

Reported by Park Se-won | Video by Lee Da-in | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.