[Anchor]

Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won also stated that he would act in accordance with proper procedures regarding the issue of withdrawing the indictment in the case involving President Lee Jae-myung. He also teared up while explaining suspicions of preferential treatment surrounding a cooperative for people with developmental disabilities where his spouse and son work.

Reporter Go Jeong-hyeon reports.

[Reporter]

The People Power Party pressed Nominee Kim Seung-won on what his true intentions were, pointing out that he had previously said the justice minister should direct the withdrawal of the indictment in cases related to President Lee Jae-myung, but shifted his position after his nomination by claiming the minister has no direct authority.

[Park Hyung-soo / People Power Party Lawmaker: "Do you have no intention to direct the withdrawal of the indictment? Do you believe that withdrawing the indictment is the right thing to do?"]

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee: "The exercise of state power must be conducted in the cleanest, procedurally proper, and fair manner..."]

Nominee Kim also stated that even if a special counsel bill regarding allegations of fabricated indictments is passed, he opposes granting the special counsel the authority to withdraw indictments.

Suspicions were raised, alongside an audio recording of his wife, alleging that a "family salary feast" was taking place at the cooperative where Nominee Kim's wife and child work and that the cooperative was colluding with the local government having jurisdiction. However, Nominee Kim refuted the claims as completely groundless.

[Joo Jin-woo / People Power Party Lawmaker: "Nominee Kim Seung-won's family assets are also constantly increasing. Just look at the rate of increase. What is this, Samsung Electronics?"]

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee: "Lawmaker Joo Jin-woo, try having your son work at a development center. See if he can last a week or two weeks."]

Nominee Kim choked up while speaking about his son, explaining that it was a cooperative formed by parents of children with developmental disabilities.

[Kim Seung-won / Justice Minister Nominee: "(She said) my wife also thought of someone she could trust to look after these children (people with developmental disabilities) when she loses her strength or passes away later on (would be my son)."]

The opposition dismissed this as "crocodile tears," while the ruling party launched a counterattack against the opposition lawmaker who raised the suspicions.

[Park Jie-won / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "Yoon Suk Yeol, Han Dong-hoon, and Joo Jin-woo are the three bad prosecutor brothers. They are viper-like people."]

Nominee Kim's past remarks also came under fire, given his own past criminal record for drunk driving.

[Kwak Kyu-taek / People Power Party Lawmaker: "Saying to the president of the Korean Bar Association that disciplinary actions against lawyers for illegal acts such as drunk driving are too lenient. Isn't this truly the 'king of double standards'?"]

Yesterday (September 15), not a single witness or reference person was present at the hearing room due to the ruling party's refusal.

Perhaps because of this, some observers point out that the hearing descended into partisan bickering rather than clarifying the allegations.

Camera by Oh Young-chun and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Lee Seung-hee