Chung Jeom-sik: "Is Chief Kim Hyun-ji Above the Chief Justice?" Criticizes Ahead of Cheong Wa Dae Audit

People Power Party Floor Leader Chung Jeom-sik criticized the ruling bloc after witness appearances requested by the People Power Party fell through for the House Steering Committee's parliamentary audit of Cheong Wa Dae, stating, "By turning today's audit into a shield for Cheong Wa Dae power brokers, the government and the ruling party have voluntarily forfeited the opportunity to clarify suspicions of personnel abuse by the 'Seongnam-Gyeonggi faction' to the public."

Speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly today (October 29), Floor Leader Chung remarked, "Due to strong opposition from the Democratic Party, the witness attendance of two figures known as the administration's most influential power brokers—Kim Hyun-ji, Chief of the First Attached Office of Cheong Wa Dae, and Jeong Jin-sang, former chief of political affairs at the office of the Democratic Party leader—was ultimately derailed."

He went on to warn, "This is an admission that the personnel corruption is not mere suspicion, but the truth," adding, "I hope they bear in mind that the end result of shielding the administration's power brokers during the parliamentary audit will be the self-destruction of the Lee Jae-myung administration."

Floor Leader Chung criticized, "The Democratic Party subjected the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to all kinds of insults during the parliamentary audit, asserting there are no sacred cows. Yet is the Cheong Wa Dae attached office chief a sacred sanctuary from parliamentary scrutiny?" He added, "Is Chief Kim above the Chief Justice and above the National Assembly? This is conduct that destroys the balance among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches and undermines the separation of powers."

He continued, "Despite the Democratic Party's all-out defense, the full scope of personnel abuse by the Seongnam-Gyeonggi faction has already come to light through the parliamentary audit," noting, "Of the 364 public institution executives appointed under the Lee Jae-myung administration over the past year, 74 have ties to President Lee or the Democratic Party, and 23 of them are categorized as members of the Seongnam-Gyeonggi faction."

He also said, "Key figures from the Seongnam-Gyeonggi faction—such as the chief of staff and spokesperson during the president's tenure as Seongnam mayor, the wedding officiant for Chief Kim Hyun-ji, and the former co-representative of a Seongnam civic organization in which President Lee and Chief Kim were active—have been parachuted into every corner of public institutions." He added, "This is why people are saying that in the Lee Jae-myung administration, the 'sacred bone' class is the Seongnam-Gyeonggi faction, the 'true bone' is the president's defense counsel, the 'head rank six' are those from the Democratic Party, and everyone else is an untouchable."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.