From 'Oppa' to 'Humanities Major' Remarks: Solicitation Scandal Leads to Resignation

[Anchor]

Representative Kim Seung-won's resignation was heavily driven by his ultimate failure to turn public opinion around regarding allegations of improper solicitation involving the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Starting with the so-called "oppa solicitation allegation" and escalating to his response that he "could not know because he was a humanities major," the controversy continued unabated even after the confirmation hearing.

Reporter Son Hyeong-an has the details.

[Reporter]

After being nominated as Minister of Justice on August 30, Representative Kim Seung-won of the Democratic Party dismissed allegations of solicitation involving the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as "a simple forwarding of a public-interest grievance petition" as the controversy ignited.

[Kim Seung-won / Democratic Party Lawmaker (September 7): "I never made any unlawful solicitation to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, nor was the ministry's review conducted unfairly because of it...."]

He explained his relationship with Yang Su-jin, who appears in the solicitation allegations, as follows:

[Kim Seung-won / Democratic Party Lawmaker (September 7): "It is true that I have respected her as a successful businesswoman and have been close with her as a junior acquaintance."]

The Democratic Party actively shielded Kim while trying to shift the narrative, asserting that independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, who had launched a daily offensive raising allegations, should be punished for leaking investigative records.

[Kim Min-seok / Democratic Party Leader (September 11): "The more I observe nominee Kim Seung-won, the more I judge him to be a well-chosen appointment."]

However, audio transcripts surfaced in which Yang referred to Kim as "oppa," followed by a photo showing Kim and Yang alongside a judge surnamed Jeong, who had previously dismissed an arrest warrant for Kang Se-chan, the founder of COVID-19 treatment developer Genencell. Furthermore, despite Kim's explanation that he had not met with them since 2022, another photo taken with Yang in 2023 also emerged.

During the confirmation hearing on September 15, criticism was raised pointing out that the falsification and fabrication of Genencell's animal testing had been revealed in the first-instance court ruling against Kang.

[Kim Seung-won / Democratic Party Lawmaker (September 15): "Lawmaker, I am a humanities major. As for the efficacy or performance of that treatment—(Can't humanities majors even read a court verdict?)—there is no way for me to know."]

A barrage of assessments followed that this answer, far from dispelling suspicions, only stoked public resentment.

Progressive civic groups, including People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, also deemed him unfit to serve as Minister of Justice, stating that "it is strongly suspected of being an unlawful solicitation rather than a forwarding of a public-interest grievance."

Meanwhile, regarding media reports that a petition from former aides containing additional allegations against Kim was delivered to Cheong Wa Dae on September 17, the presidential office stated that it is difficult to confirm personnel-related matters, while Kim's camp issued a statement saying, "The reported rumors about the petition differ from the truth, are exaggerated, or contain errors."

Video by Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Won Hyeong-hee
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.