"Now the President Must Decide"... Opposition Pressures Withdrawal of Kim Seungwon and Yong Hyein's Nominations

People Power Party Urges Immediate Withdrawal Following Yong Hyein’s Pledge to Stay the Course
Han Donghoon Presses Kim Seungwon Over Solicitation Allegations with Audio Evidence
Chun Haram Demands Kang Sincheol Step Down Amid Real Estate Scanda

The opposition's offensive surrounding the second cabinet reshuffle of the Lee Jaemyung administration is expanding beyond candidate verification to demand the withdrawal of nominations by the President. While the People Power Party is targeting Kim Seungwon, nominee for Minister of Justice, and Yong Hyein, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, Han Donghoon, independent lawmaker, and Chun Haram, acting leader of the Reform Party, have also joined in. The focus of the confirmation hearing climate appears to be shifting from individual candidates to President Lee's personnel accountability.

On September 11, the People Power Party called on President Lee to withdraw the nominations of both Kim and Yong. Choi Boyoon, the party's chief spokesperson, stated, "Now President Lee must make a decision," and demanded, "Withdraw the nomination of Yong immediately." Spokesperson Cho Yongsul also pressed, "Make a choice whether to follow the people's command or stand by Yong until the end."

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheolsoo also uploaded the content of Yong's press conference to his social media, calling it "a drunken rampage held in broad daylight at the National Assembly," and added, "President Lee should urgently defuse this political time bomb." In the press conference the previous day, nominee Yong had stated, "Holding dual positions as both lawmaker and cabinet member is permitted by law," firmly denying various allegations and expressing her intent to see her ministerial candidacy through.

Minister of Gender Equality and Family nominee Yong Hyein is holding a press conference announcing her position at the National Assembly Communication Office on September 10, 2026. Photo by Dongjoo Yoon

The offensive against nominee Kim is also intensifying. Jung Jomsik, floor leader of the People Power Party, pointed at allegations regarding requests for clinical trials of new drugs at a party meeting, and argued, "The mere fact that there was a risk of unverified poison being administered to the public warrants a parliamentary investigation." He criticized, "President Lee selected Kim to facilitate withdrawal of prosecution, but Kim has become a landmine for the administration."

Han Donghoon, independent lawmaker, is also releasing related audio recordings in succession, pressuring both Kim to resign and President Lee to withdraw the nomination. Han stated, "Right now, President Lee still has a chance to claim ignorance about the seriousness of these suspicions and withdraw the nomination, but after today, he too becomes an accomplice." When the Democratic Party of Korea raised questions about the sources of Han's materials, Han countered, "I never received any material from the prosecution," and filed a complaint against Democratic Party leader Kim Minseok for spreading false information.

In response to these attacks, nominee Kim explained, "At the time, everyone was working to develop COVID-19 treatments," and argued that "as a judge, handling such a petition was well within my scope for addressing civil complaints."

Kim Seungwon, nominee for Minister of Justice, is arriving at the confirmation hearing preparation office set up in Jeokseon Hyundai Building, Jongno-gu, Seoul on September 7, 2026. Photo by Cho Yongjun

The Reform Party has also joined the criticism. Acting leader Chun Haram raised suspicions that Defense Minister nominee Kang Shincheol's family acquired three apartments through a 'special allocation for displaced residents,' generating a windfall of over 3 billion won, and demanded his voluntary withdrawal. Chun argued, "A system meant to help those who lost their homes was exploited as an investment tool for the nominee's family." He went on to say, "The administration's personnel verification system has utterly collapsed, as it has failed to even screen ministerial nominees with serious legal and ethical allegations regarding real estate."

In response, nominee Kang's camp retorted, "The nominee, his father, brother, and aunt all owned houses in the affected area and were legitimate recipients of displaced resident compensation," and stated, "The special supply application process was conducted properly in accordance with procedure."

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