Choked Up While Explaining... Verbal Warfare over 'Crocodile Tears' and 'Vipers'

[Anchor]

In response to questions asking whether he would drop indictments in cases involving President Lee Jae-myung once appointed as Justice Minister, nominee Kim Seung-won reiterated that he has neither the authority nor any intention to issue such directives. He also teared up while speaking about his son, who works at a cooperative where his wife serves as director.

Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon reports.

[Reporter]

The People Power Party questioned nominee Kim Seung-won's sincerity, pointing out that while he had previously said the Justice Minister should direct the dismissal of indictments in cases related to President Lee Jae-myung, he reversed his words after being nominated, claiming the minister has no direct authority.

[Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun / People Power Party: "Weren't you a co-representative of the group seeking to drop the indictments? What is your position now?"]

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee: "The Minister of Justice has no authority to dismiss indictments, nor do I intend to exercise general supervisory authority through the Prosecutor General to do so."]

Nominee Kim also stated that even if a special counsel bill regarding allegations of fabricated indictments passes, he opposes granting the special counsel the authority to drop charges.

Allegations were also raised, along with an audio recording of his wife, that a "family salary feast" was taking place at the cooperative where his wife and children work, and that the cooperative colluded with the competent local government, but nominee Kim refuted them as groundless.

[Rep. Joo Jin-woo / People Power Party: "Nominee Kim Seung-won's family assets are continuously increasing as well. Just look at the percentage increase. What is this, Samsung Electronics?"]

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee: "Representative Joo Jin-woo, try having your son work at a developmental center. Let's see if he can last a week or two."]

Nominee Kim choked up with emotion while speaking about his son, explaining that the cooperative was founded by parents of children with developmental disabilities.

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee: "My wife also said that when she becomes frail or passes away, the person she felt she could trust and entrust these children (people with developmental disabilities) to (was my son)."]

The opposition party reacted with cynicism, calling it "crocodile tears," while the ruling party launched a counterattack against the opposition lawmaker who raised the suspicions.

[Rep. Park Ji-won / Democratic Party: "Yoon Suk-yeol, Han Dong-hoon, Joo Jin-woo—they are the three bad prosecution brothers. They are people like vipers."]

Nominee Kim's past remarks also came under fire, given his prior criminal record for drunk driving.

[Rep. Gwak Kyu-taek / People Power Party: "Telling the president of the Korean Bar Association that disciplinary actions against lawyers for violations such as drunk driving are too lenient. Isn't this truly the ultimate double standard?"]

In his closing remarks after the confirmation hearing that lasted 22 hours, nominee Kim pledged to take responsibility from the launch of the Prosecution Agency to its establishment on the ground, vowing to complete a criminal justice system that the public can trust and feel secure about.

(Video by Oh Young-chun, Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Lee Seung-hee)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.