Jeong Jeom-sik says approval rating drop signals lame-duck presidency has already begun; Im Yi-ja calls Kim 'corruption-tainted' and Yong a 'family party' pick

People Power Party Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik speaks at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly on Friday, sharply criticizing Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won over allegations of improper lobbying. [Yonhap]
People Power Party Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik speaks at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly on Friday, sharply criticizing Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won over allegations of improper lobbying. [Yonhap]

The People Power Party on Friday continued its sustained criticism of Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won and Minister of Gender Equality and Family nominee Yong Hye-in, demanding that President Lee Jae Myung withdraw both nominations.

PPP Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik, speaking at a floor strategy meeting at the National Assembly, said Kim "is not qualified to undergo a confirmation hearing" given his role as the minister who would oversee the withdrawal of indictments.

Jeong trained particular fire on Kim. "He claims he has no direct authority over the withdrawal of indictments and no intention of directing the prosecutor general to act, but that is a lie — he is trying to find a back door through a special prosecutor or other workarounds," Jeong said.

Turning to allegations that Kim accepted bribes in connection with the head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Jeong said it was "an enormous conflict of interest for someone who received a suspended indictment in a bribery-related case to become the minister overseeing the agency responsible for prosecutions." He added: "It is a national tragedy that, with a defendant president whose trial is ongoing, we are now also getting a justice minister who received a suspended indictment."

Jeong also weighed in on the slide in President Lee's approval rating, saying "the lame duck has already begun."

"A lame duck is a natural phenomenon. The bigger problem is addiction to power," he said, adding that it stems from "the delusion that the power in one's hands will last forever and that 'I will be the exception to the lame duck.'"

Jeong urged the president to heed the opposition. "Denying the lame duck will not stop it. But there are ways to delay it as long as possible," he said. "Listen to the hard truths from the opposition, respect the constitutional system, and show humility before public sentiment."

He also called on the president to "fundamentally revisit the real estate policy centered on lending regulations and taxes, withdraw the unconstitutional demand for the re-nomination of Supreme Court justices, and reverse the abolition of supplementary investigative authority."

PPP Policy Committee Chair Im Yi-ja said the party "cannot avoid calling for the withdrawal of the nominations of both Kim Seung-won and Yong Hye-in." She said the public had already rendered its verdict — "Kim Seung-won with his indictment-withdrawal and corruption allegations, Yong Hye-in with her family-party ties" — and demanded that President Lee withdraw both nominations by this weekend.

Im also called on the ruling Democratic Party to cooperate with a parliamentary investigation into the single-stock leveraged ETF controversy. "The PPP is submitting to the National Assembly a request for a parliamentary investigation to get to the truth of the single-stock leveraged ETF situation," she said. "The core question is: who introduced this dangerously risky product so hastily, and why, saddling retail investors with massive losses?"

"The Democratic Party will have no grounds to refuse a parliamentary investigation," she added, urging the party to "immediately cooperate with the probe to uncover the truth."

PPP Secretary-General Jeong Hui-yong said the nominees each faced different allegations and controversies but shared one clear trait. "Neither their moral integrity nor their sense of fairness meets the common-sense standard the public expects," he said.

"Can anyone say these nominees went through a proper vetting process?" he asked. "We urge the president to stop testing the public's patience and immediately withdraw the nominations of these controversial candidates."


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