[Anchor]

At the National Assembly, the ruling and opposition parties are clashing sharply over the adoption of confirmation hearing reports for cabinet nominees, including Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won. The People Power Party strongly demanded the immediate withdrawal of what it called a botched cabinet reshuffle, while the Democratic Party urged the PPP, which signaled street protests, to return to parliament.

Reporter Ha Jeongyeon reports.

[Reporter]

Today, as confirmation hearings concluded for nominees who drew the fiercest clashes between the rival parties—including Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won and Defense Minister nominee Kang Shin-chul—the People Power Party characterized this cabinet reshuffle as having ended in a tragedy.

[Jang Dong-hyeok / Leader of the People Power Party: "The confirmation hearing for Kim Seung-won was a shameful, low-class comedy to watch. As for the defense minister nominee (Kang Shin-chul), he cannot even call North Korea our principal enemy, making him literally a 'political soldier'."]

He then urged the immediate withdrawal of the flawed reshuffle.

[Jang Dong-hyeok / Leader of the People Power Party: "The public's anger is a ticking time bomb on the verge of exploding. I hope for a complete overhaul of the cabinet and the presidential office."]

The Democratic Party criticized the PPP, saying it engaged in political offensives rather than proper vetting during the confirmation hearing process.

[Han Byung-do / Floor Leader of the Democratic Party: "They wasted time that should have been spent vetting policy and competence on personal attacks, abusive remarks, and shouting."]

Regarding the PPP's foreshadowing of street protests, Han pointed out that seeking answers on the streets must not become the main opposition party's solution.

[Han Byung-do / Floor Leader of the Democratic Party: "What the people expect from the political sphere is not street protests, but taking care of grocery prices and the livelihoods of ordinary citizens."]

As the Democratic Party moved today to convene the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee to force through the adoption of the confirmation hearing report for nominee Kim, the PPP countered by canceling standing committee meetings chaired by its own lawmakers.

The PPP took retaliatory action by canceling plenary meetings ahead of scheduled discussions on adopting hearing reports for Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister nominee Hong Ji-sun and SMEs and Startups Minister nominee Lee So-young.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly's Economy and Finance Planning Committee, chaired by the Democratic Party, adopted the confirmation hearing report this morning for Lee Hyoung-il, nominee for deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance.

(Video by Oh Young-choon and Lee Seung-hwan, Video Editing by Jeon Min-gyu)