Joo Jinwoo: "Kim Seungwon’s Children Hired by Wife-Run Welfare Institution... Family Collected Hundreds of Millions in Salaries"

People Power Party Intensifies Criticism of Kim Seungwon's Spouse's Welfare Institution

Joo Jinwoo: "Kim’s Spouse and Eldest Son Interviewed the Daughter—Is This a Fair Hiring Process?"

Kim Minjeon: "Conducting Illegal All-day Classes While Not a Certified School"

Kim Taegyu: "Suspected Illegal Reduction of Insurance Payments by Splitting Salaries"

Assemblyman Joo Jinwoo of the People Power Party claimed on September 6 that the welfare institution where the spouse of Kim Seungwon, the nominee for Minister of Justice, works, hired the couple’s two children and paid them hundreds of millions of won in wages.

At a press conference held at the National Assembly's briefing room on this day, Assemblyman Joo stated, “The Park Won-soon-style social cooperative has long been criticized for draining taxpayers’ money, and now the substance of such family-run cooperatives has been exposed through the case involving Kim Seungwon’s family.”

According to Assemblyman Joo, Kim’s 26-year-old son and 22-year-old daughter are both employed at the Korea Child Development Social Cooperative, an organization providing developmental disability care services, where their mother serves as the head. This institution is a community created by families of people with developmental disabilities, operating as “School A” since September 2019.

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Joo stated, “The institution received zero government support when it was established in Yongin.” He continued, “After Kim was elected as a National Assembly member, in January 2022, he moved the cooperative to Suwon, his constituency. Within three months, Suwon City designated it as an activity service provider for people with developmental disabilities.”

He further pointed out, “As soon as it was designated as an activity service provider, their government voucher revenue, previously at zero, soared to 880 million won over four years. Kim’s spouse and two children all landed jobs there and received over 330 million won in salaries.”

In response, Kim’s side explained that the son and daughter majored in occupational therapy and health education at university, and took part-time positions during a period of frequent staff turnover at the institution.

Nevertheless, Assemblyman Joo argued, “Although Kim’s side stated that the eldest son was in charge of occupational therapy and special education, the public job posting listed his position as ‘HR manager.’ What expertise or role could possibly justify the entire family profiting from taxpayer money?”

He added, “There was even the absurd case of Kim’s spouse and eldest son interviewing and hiring the younger daughter. If the mother is the director, the brother is the HR manager, and the two of them conduct the interview—can that ever be considered a fair hiring process?”

Joo went on, “From January to August this year alone, the spouse and two children received nearly 70 million won in salary. All of this comes from taxpayer money. Amid current allegations of improper solicitation with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, if the family also receives Ministry of Health and Welfare funds, the public cannot accept Kim’s appointment as Minister of Justice.”

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Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Kim Minjeon of the People Power Party criticized the welfare institution for using “school” in its name without official certification. On Facebook, Representative Kim wrote, “The Elementary and Secondary Education Act stipulates that only schools officially approved by the government can use the term ‘school’ in their name. Only recognized schools and alternative educational institutions registered with the local office of education are permitted to recruit students and conduct classes from morning to evening.”

She continued, “However, this organization is neither a certified school nor an alternative educational institution, yet they illegally conduct classes for students with developmental disabilities all day. Not only Kim’s wife, but also the son and daughter have received over 300 million won from this cooperative.”

Kim Taegyu, another assemblyman from the same party, raised the suspicion that the welfare institution split its salary payments into earned income and business income in order to illegally reduce payments to the four major social insurance schemes.

By dividing payments as earned and business income, it is estimated that, over five years, the company and the spouse jointly reduced their social insurance contributions by more than 13 million won. According to Assemblyman Kim, this is a classic tactic for illegally minimizing insurance costs by splitting salaries.

Assemblyman Kim further pointed out that if earned income and business income are combined, the spouse’s actual salary has nearly tripled over five years. He also announced his intention to call for a factual investigation into the institution by the Social Insurance Agency.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.