Kim Seung-won, nominee for Minister of the Ministry of Justice, on the 31st addressed some calling him a "Daejang-dong attorney," saying it is "not true to claim that I defended the merits case of the Daejang-dong development corruption."
In a statement released the same day, Kim said, "I have not served as defense counsel in the merits case of the Daejang-dong development corruption, whose investigation and trial have been underway since 2021," and stated accordingly.
Kim said, "It is true that my name appeared on the defense team for attorney Nam Wook's Attorney‑at‑Law Act violation case in 2015, (Nam being a key figure in the Daejang-dong development corruption case)," but added, "All attorneys affiliated with the law firm (where I worked) were formally listed on the designation of counsel for Nam."
He went on, "At the request of a senior partner at my law firm, I had one meeting and legal consultation in the early stage of the case (regarding Nam), and that was all," adding, "I resigned as counsel in July 2015."
Earlier, People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok wrote on his Facebook the day before, on the 30th, that "President Lee Jae-myung has named Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Seung-won, a former 'Daejang-dong attorney,' as Minister of the Ministry of Justice."
He added, "He is the person who served as co-representative of the so-called 'dismissal of indictment group.' He argued that the illegal remittance to North Korea case was 'an orchestrated investigation intended to take down President Lee Jae-myung' and also took the lead in introducing the 'special counsel bill for dismissal of indictment.'" People Power Party floor leader Jeong Jeong-sim also said of Kim, "Declaration of entry into a blitzkrieg for dismissal of indictments."
Before a meeting of the first subcommittee on bill review of The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee at the National Assembly that day, Kim told reporters, "I feel a heavy sense of responsibility at being named Minister of the Ministry of Justice in the Lee Jae-myung popular sovereignty government," adding, "Ensuring that the new criminal justice system, the first in 70 years, is firmly established in Korea is the most urgent calling."
He did not take questions from reporters, saying he had not grasped the details of the current state of the Ministry of Justice.