"Sent 5 Files on Accounting Fraud Allegations" ... Presidential Office Calls It "Gossip"

[Anchor]

Former Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won stepped down voluntarily, but a "petition" delivered to the presidential office by his former aide is causing a strong backlash. The former aide told SBS that they delivered five document files, including a petition detailing allegations of accounting fraud in the Democratic Party's Gyeonggi Provincial Chapter, which Kim previously led.

Reporter Ha Jeong-yeon reports.

[Reporter]

Person A, a former aide to Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won who stepped down as nominee for Minister of Justice, told SBS yesterday (September 21) that they delivered a petition containing allegations against Kim to Hong Ihk-pyo, Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs, on September 17.

This was the day the National Assembly's confirmation hearing report on Kim was adopted under the leadership of the Democratic Party, and the day before President Lee Jae-myung's press conference.

"At around 11:10 a.m. on September 17, I sent five document files via Telegram to Senior Secretary Hong, including the petition, a letter addressed to the President, and a compilation of suspected accounting fraud cases within the Democratic Party's Gyeonggi Provincial Chapter," Person A stated.

The petitions and letters, spanning a total of 13 pages written separately by Person A and another former aide, detailed allegations against lawmaker Kim including sexual harassment at a drinking party, an additional drunk driving incident, verbal abuse toward aides, and accounting irregularities.

Person A also said that the so-called "payback allegations"—in which the Democratic Party's Gyeonggi Provincial Chapter led by Kim allegedly paid certain party officials an additional 1 million to 2 million won on top of their base salary and then received the funds back into separate accounts for other uses—were the most critical reason they raised the issue.

On the afternoon of September 18, the day after the petition was delivered and the day before Kim announced his voluntary resignation.

Person A also recounted that they met with Kim at Kim's request and demanded his resignation, but Kim refused.

However, regarding the "accounting fraud allegations," a key Democratic Party official told SBS, "We looked into it at the party level, but found that lawmaker Kim did not use any of the money for personal purposes," adding, "An investigation by the National Election Commission is currently underway, and we are waiting for the results."

When asked on a radio program yesterday (September 21) whether a petition had been submitted to the presidential office, Kang Yu-jung, Senior Spokesperson of the Presidential Office, gave this response.

[Kang Yu-jung / Senior Spokesperson of the Presidential Office (KBS Radio 'Jeongyeoksisa') : "Since we no longer hold appointment authority over nominee Kim Seung-won, other stories are merely 'gossip' from the perspective of the presidential office."]

Even following Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won's withdrawal from the Justice Minister nomination, the fallout continues to escalate over the additional allegations raised by his former aides.

(Video by Lee Seung-hwan | Video Editing by Choi Jin-hwa | Graphics by Kang Yoon-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.