"Aide Personnel Interference Must Be Investigated": Calls Also Made for "Kim Min-seok's Apology"

[Anchor]

The People Power Party has ramped up pressure on the ruling party, asserting that allegations of personnel manipulation involving figures such as Kim Hyun-ji, head of the Office of the Personal Secretary to the President, must also be investigated. From within parts of the Democratic Party, calls have also emerged that Party Leader Kim Min-seok should apologize for the personnel controversies.

Reporter Kim Bo-mi reports.

[Reporter]

The People Power Party stated that "the resignation of Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, who serves as the chairman of the presidential personnel committee, is a matter of course," and also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, who had recommended the ministerial nominees who ultimately stepped down.

The party also claimed that personnel interference by President Lee Jae-myung's closest aides, including Kim Hyun-ji, head of the First Personal Secretary's Office, and Jeong Jin-sang, former chief of political affairs coordination for the Democratic Party, must be uncovered.

[Jeong Jeom-sik / Floor Leader, People Power Party: We must summon Secretaries Kim Hyun-ji and Jeong Jin-sang as witnesses to the parliamentary audit to scrutinize the allegations of personnel manipulation.]

Party Leader Jang Dong-hyeok argued, "The ones who truly must take responsibility are the 'Gyeonggi-Seongnam line' who are said to hold sway over the presidential office," adding sarcastically, "Is 'Noona Hyun-ji' really more powerful than 'Hyung Hoon-sik' after all?"

The People Power Party, which is also demanding the withdrawal of the nomination of Defense Minister nominee Kang Shin-chul amid controversies such as the one surrounding his son's commercial property, decided to hold a "rally to report to the public" stating it would "criticize government failures today (September 22)," and is also considering whether to launch outside-parliament struggles after the Chuseok holiday.

Voices of concern over the "presidential personnel system" were also heard within the Democratic Party.

[Kim Young-jin / Democratic Party Lawmaker (CBS Park Sung-tae's News Show): It is a time when we need to inspect the personnel system within the presidential office and prepare thoroughly so that the same mistakes are not repeatedly made.]

Six-term lawmaker Park Ji-won said that as President Lee recognized deficiencies during his press conference, Democratic Party Leader Kim Min-seok, as leader of the ruling party, should also sincerely apologize to the public.

Yesterday, the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee adopted a confirmation hearing report on Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport nominee Hong Ji-seon, listing both the Democratic Party's assessment of qualified and the People Power Party's assessment of unqualified.

On the other hand, discussions on adopting the confirmation hearing report for Lee So-young, the nominee for Minister of SMEs and Startups, remain on hold.

Reported by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video by Park Seon-soo | Graphics by Han Heung-soo
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.