Democratic Party Distances Itself After Nominee's Fall; PPP Asks "What Are They Hiding?"

[Anchor]

Moving on to political news. Although Representative Kim Seung-won has stepped down from his nomination for Justice Minister, the political fallout continues. While the Democratic Party has kept its distance for a second day, the opposition is intensifying its offensive, seizing upon a "petition" regarding Representative Kim.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon reports.

[Reporter]

Even after Democratic Party Representative Kim Seung-won stepped down as the nominee for Minister of Justice, Party Leader Kim Min-seok has issued no separate statement on the matter for a second day.

Kim canceled a press conference scheduled for today (September 20) to mark his first month in office as party leader, and instead attended the inaugural meeting of the party's constitutional amendment promotion task force.

[Kim Min-seok / Leader, Democratic Party of Korea: Now is the time when the nation, the people, the democratic forces, and the party must unite even more firmly around President Lee Jae-myung.]

Although a former aide to Representative Kim is reported to have delivered a petition containing additional allegations against Kim to Cheong Wa Dae, the Democratic Party appears to not even be looking into the facts.

[Park Sung-joon / Senior Spokesperson, Democratic Party of Korea: We know nothing about it.]

A Democratic Party lawmaker stated, "Now that Representative Kim has withdrawn from the nomination, it is also not appropriate for the party to step forward and refute the allegations."

It also appears that internal sentiment to minimize the political damage to the party has grown, given that he fell from nomination despite the party's all-out defense.

Meanwhile, "Round 2" of clashes has begun between the Democratic Party and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon.

[Cho Gye-won / Spokesperson, Democratic Party of Korea: Isn't all the material that should be in the hands of the prosecution now in Han Dong-hoon's hands? That fact alone clearly constitutes criminal allegations. Rather, the police must launch an immediate investigation before evidence is destroyed.]

[Han Dong-hoon / Independent Lawmaker: Is it true that this petition was delivered to Party Leader Kim Min-seok before it reached Cheong Wa Dae? Did you know about it and brush it under the rug? And are you now going to hunt down that whistleblower?]

The People Power Party launched an offensive, stating that regarding the petition and allegations that Kim solicited favors from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, "Cheong Wa Dae failed to vet them, and the Democratic Party turned a blind eye."

[Choi Bo-yoon / Senior Spokesperson, People Power Party: The longer the silence continues, the more the public will ask, 'What are they hiding?' and Cheong Wa Dae must bear the responsibility for that suspicion.]

Party Leader Jang Dong-hyeok claimed that Kim Hyun-ji, head of the First Personal Secretary's Office at Cheong Wa Dae, was behind the "personnel disaster," asserting, "Director Kim must be called to testify at the parliamentary audit to hold her accountable."

(Video Coverage: Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing: Yoo Mi-ra | Graphics: Park Tae-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.