'Seongnam Line' vs. 'Political Offensive': Clash Over Submission of Resumes

[Anchor]

Today (October 15), the ruling and opposition parties clashed during the National Assembly Climate and Labor Committee's parliamentary audit over whether heads of affiliated institutions should submit their personnel records. The opposition claimed that figures from the so-called "Gyeonggi Seongnam line," close to the president, had secured top posts through "parachute appointments," while the ruling party pushed back, calling it a political offensive.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon reports.

[Reporter]

At today's parliamentary audit of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee.

People Power Party lawmakers raised allegations of "parachute appointments," singling out Nam Gwang-woo, head of the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute, Ha Dong-geun, president of the Korea District Heating Corporation, and Jang Geon, chairman of the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association.

They questioned whether these figures had risen to head public institutions without merit verification simply because they were part of the so-called "Gyeonggi Seongnam line," criticizing them for failing to submit personnel records, including cover letters.

[Kim Gi-hyeon / People Power Party Lawmaker: "If you have that level of expertise and an outstanding career, you should proudly submit them, but there was not a single category where you ranked first (in the document screening or interview)."]

Director Nam graduated from Chung-Ang University College of Law, the same as President Lee Jae-myung, and previously served as secretary-general of the Citizens' Coalition for Seongnam. The People Power Party claimed there had been interference in the appointment process, pointing out that Nam was selected despite ranking third in the document review and second in the interview.

President Ha, a former head of Seongnam Cultural Solidarity, is also known to have officiated the wedding of Kim Hyeon-ji, Chief of the First Attached Office at Cheong Wa Dae, and controversy arose over his appointment despite receiving the lowest scores in both the document review and interview.

Chairman Jang is a figure who previously served as co-representative of the Citizens' Solidarity for Participatory Autonomy of Seongnam.

[Na Kyung-won / People Power Party Lawmaker: "It is suspected that Chief Kim Hyeon-ji (a close confidant of President Lee Jae-myung) and former Chief Jeong Jin-sang intervened in personnel decisions..."]

During the audit, Director Nam stated that he withheld the materials due to privacy and personal reasons.

[Nam Gwang-woo / Head of Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute: "There is some personal information included, and there are also parts related to privacy..."]

Directing criticism at the People Power Party, the Democratic Party came to Nam's defense and urged the opposition to halt its political offensive.

[Lee Geon-tae / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "(Director Nam Gwang-woo) said he would follow whatever the National Assembly decides. Nitpicking over his words and shifting all the blame onto the witness is..."]

Today's audit was temporarily disrupted before resuming, and Director Nam belatedly submitted his cover letter and related documents.

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