The Democratic Party (DP) actively built a defense on the 5th against offensive moves by the People Power Party and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon directed at Kim Seung-won, the nominee for Minister of Justice.

In a written briefing, Floor Spokesperson Kim Sung-hoe criticized the People Power Party for raising suspicions regarding nominee Kim's solicitation for clinical trial approval of a new COVID-19 therapeutic drug, stating, "Setting a conclusion even before the confirmation hearing begins is nothing more than a political offensive rather than verification, and they are branding a nominee whom even the prosecution under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration failed to indict."

"The prosecution under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration conducted a comprehensive investigation but ultimately failed to indict nominee Kim," Floor Spokesperson Kim remarked, asking, "Are they now going to deny the conclusion reached by the prosecution they used to direct?"

He continued, "The People Power Party is jumping to conclusions about bribery and tossing around mentions of prison over an unconfirmed matter," adding, "There is no truth to money and valuables changing hands."

Targeting People Power Party Representative Jang Dong-hyeok, who is a former judge, Floor Spokesperson Kim said, "He is getting all worked up to deliver a guilty verdict against nominee Kim that even the court has not issued. If he wants to hand down verdicts like that, he should put his judicial robes back on."

"The public is no longer fooled by the method of clipping out advantageous sections while concealing unfavorable contexts," Floor Spokesperson Kim added. "What the public wants to know is the nominee's expertise and capability to lead the new criminal justice system."

In a written briefing, DP Spokesperson Cho Gye-won lashed out at Lawmaker Han's claims regarding a "special relationship" between nominee Kim, a broker named Yang, and a warrant judge surnamed Jeong, stating, "Before poking into other people's relationships, he needs to clarify his own relationship with Kim Kun-hee to the public."

"The truly special relationship is with someone who exchanged KakaoTalk messages 332 times over three months during his days as a prosecutor general," Spokesperson Cho pointed out, referring to "Kim Kun-hee, who reigned as a shadow power in a regime impeached for rebellion."

He continued to press, "What kind of qualifications does a person have to say anything when he himself slapped a password of over 20 digits on his mobile phone during his own investigation to block the prosecution from opening it? When on earth is he going to respond to the public demand to reveal the reality of the rebellion?"

The Democratic Party also pressed Lawmaker Han regarding the source of items such as the call transcript involving nominee Kim and the broker implicated in the new drug clinical trial approval solicitation case.

Lawmaker Kim Dong-a stated on Facebook, "Disclosing transcripts of unknown origin and leaking investigative secrets are judged to constitute the crime of leaking official secrets, the crime of defamation by publishing false facts, and the crime of publicizing criminal suspects' facts." He added, "We are currently collecting and analyzing evidence, and will respond swiftly."

Supreme Council Member Jeon Yong-gi stated on Facebook, "How on earth was the call transcript between nominee Kim and Yang acquired?" and added, "It appears to be internal material that is difficult to access unless provided by the parties involved or an investigative agency."

He asked, "Could prosecution investigative data have possibly leaked to Lawmaker Han, a former prosecutor and Minister of Justice?" and demanded, "Before asking nominee Kim for explanations, he should clearly clarify how he obtained the transcript himself."

When Lawmaker Han posted on social media that "DP Representative Kim Min-seok had instructed not to respond to Han Dong-hoon, but DP lawmakers are popping out one by one unable to hold back," Supreme Council Member Jeon posted again to retort, "I never asked what Representative Kim instructed. I hope you will simply clarify how you obtained the transcript."