Kim Do-eup to chair special committee; Joo Chul-hyun, Kim Hyung-dong to serve as party negotiators
The ruling and opposition parties agreed to hold a confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Kim Sung-soo on Monday. But they failed to narrow their differences over whether to call Kim's brother-in-law as a witness. He holds the lease under a "jeonjeonse" arrangement -- a sub-lease made under an existing jeonse contract -- on the apartment at the center of allegations against Kim.
The National Assembly's special committee on the confirmation hearing made the decision at a plenary meeting on Tuesday. It set Sept. 16 for another plenary session to adopt a report on the results of its review of Kim's confirmation motion.
The same meeting also approved the appointment of the committee's chairperson and party negotiators. Rep. Kim Do-eup of the People Power Party, a four-term lawmaker, will chair the committee, while Rep. Joo Chul-hyun of the Democratic Party of Korea will serve as the ruling party's negotiator and Rep. Kim Hyung-dong of the People Power Party will serve as the opposition's negotiator.
The ruling and opposition parties agreed to continue consultations between their negotiators on witness selection for Kim's hearing. The People Power Party is demanding that Kim's brother-in-law be called as a witness.
Kim has faced allegations that he evaded gift tax by entering into a below-market sublease contract for an apartment in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, that his brother-in-law had leased.
Rep. Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party said in a floor speech, "Kim and his brother-in-law's accounts conflict, so we can only get to the truth by calling the brother-in-law -- the other party in the alleged tax evasion -- as a witness." Rep. Kim Hyung-dong, who leads the opposition's side on the committee, added, "The public is demanding that both parties actively cooperate on having the witness appear."
Rep. Joo Chul-hyun, who leads the ruling party's side on the committee, said, "We can question the nominee directly and verify the facts through objective materials such as contracts and financial transaction records that will be submitted additionally." He added, "It has been confirmed that not a single witness has appeared at a Supreme Court confirmation hearing over the past 14 years, since the 19th National Assembly began in 2012."
Committee Chairman Kim Do-eup said, "Under the agreement between the ruling and opposition parties' negotiators, a request for a witness's appearance must be delivered at least five days before the requested appearance date. I ask the negotiators from both parties to reach a conclusion through consultation." He added, "If an agreement on witness selection is reached, we will convene a separate meeting to make a decision."
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