[Anchor]

When asked whether he would order a review into dropping the criminal charges against President Lee Jae-myung, Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won responded that he would direct prosecutors to carry out their duties while maintaining neutrality. This ambiguous response has drawn criticism from the conservative opposition, who argue it essentially signals an intention to direct the withdrawal of the indictment.

Reporter Park Chan-beom has the details.

[Reporter]

This is from the written responses submitted by Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won to the National Assembly yesterday (the 12th).

Asked whether he intends to instruct the Ministry of Justice, prosecutors, or the Prosecution Service to review whether to drop the criminal charges involving President Lee Jae-myung, he answered, "I will thoroughly direct and supervise so that the prosecution can fairly perform its duties while upholding political neutrality."

The tone marks a shift from remarks nominee Kim made on the 3rd during his first commute to work after being nominated as minister.

[Kim Seung-won / Minister of Justice Nominee (Sept. 3): (As for dropping the charges) directing it through the Prosecutor General, I have no such thought at present.]

In response to a question asking whether he intends to recuse himself from duties related to President Lee's criminal cases, Kim replied, "I will make a judgment in accordance with laws and regulations."

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon pointed out that "instead of saying no to the question about dropping the charges, he gave an irrelevant answer," while the ruling People Power Party criticized that the presidential office's push to ram through Kim's appointment is linked to the withdrawal of the indictment.

[Park Sung-hoon / Senior Spokesperson, People Power Party: Ultimately, I think they needed a enforcer, a Minister of Justice, who would take the lead in resolving the withdrawal of his own charges.]

The Democratic Party is shielding nominee Kim and aiming to turn the tables.

It mounted an offensive, claiming that an investigation must be launched into how lawmaker Han Dong-hoon acquired internal prosecution documents, such as an indictment plan related to the case involving allegations of soliciting the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

[Cho Gye-won / Spokesperson, Democratic Party: The place that perfectly suits lawmaker Han Dong-hoon is a police interrogation room. Reveal who you received the materials from.]

The police are scheduled to question Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Dong-ah today, who filed a complaint against lawmaker Han on charges including the leakage of official secrets.

(Photo: Yonhap News) (Video by Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Won Hyung-hee | Graphics by Bang Min-ju)