Floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik of the People Power Party criticized Minister of Justice nominee Kim Seung-won, saying, "President Lee Jae-myung chose the most suitable person to serve as the minister in charge of dismissing indictments, who will take the lead to cancel his own trial."
Jeong said at a floor countermeasures meeting at the National Assembly on the 1st, "The nominee appeared on a radio program and, when asked about the SSANGBANGWOOL remittances to North Korea case whether the Minister of Justice can dismiss the indictment for President Lee Jae-myung's third-party bribery charge, whether the third-party bribery charge can be dismissed, answered, 'It should be done,'" adding, "He is one of the two co-heads of a group to dismiss indictments aimed at canceling President Lee Jae-myung's criminal trial."
Jeong said, "Former Minister Jung Sung-ho at least showed a minimal sense of restraint about dismissing indictments, but appointing the ultra-hardliner Rep. Kim Seung-won, who will not even show that minimum restraint, sends a public message that, in the administration's second year, the top state task is dismissing indictments," adding, "President Lee Jae-myung should withdraw the nomination of Rep. Kim Seung-won and declare, 'I will stand trial,' those five characters."
Jeong also said, "Nominee Kim Seung-won was one of the seven who burst into laughter during the flood debacle," adding, "In July 2020, when a flood in Daejeon caused fatalities, seven people gathered in front of a TV as special flood alerts were being reported and were seen laughing and chatting broadly, drawing public condemnation. Nominating such a person as minister is already absurd from the start."