KSOI poll: 52.1% oppose Kim Seung-won's appointment
President Lee, ruling bloc weigh polling trends
Confirmation hearing marred by tears, insults
Han Byung-do blames PPP; Jeong Jeom-sik calls it 'deception of the people'
The National Assembly confirmation hearing for Kim Seung-won, the nominee for justice minister and the most closely watched flashpoint of the cabinet reshuffle under President Lee Jae Myung's second-term government, descended into an exchange of insults, shouting and tears — with little substantive vetting of the candidate.
With the final decision now resting squarely with President Lee, a poll released Wednesday showed that opposition to Kim's appointment exceeds a majority, deepening the ruling camp's anxiety over how to proceed.
A survey by the Korea Society Opinion Institute (KSOI), conducted Monday through Tuesday among 1,001 adults aged 18 and older nationwide, found that 52.1 percent opposed Kim's appointment — 27 percentage points higher than the 25.1 percent who supported it. Another 22.8 percent said they were unsure. (The survey used an automated response method on mobile phones, with a confidence level of 95 percent, a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points and a response rate of 5.9 percent. For details, see the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.)
Notably, 52.2 percent of Democratic Party supporters backed Kim's appointment, while 84.1 percent of People Power Party supporters opposed it. Among independents, opposition was dominant at 54.2 percent, compared with just 9.5 percent in favor.
The same poll put President Lee's job approval rating at 35.9 percent — a drop of 5.3 percentage points from the previous survey and the lowest recorded by the same polling firm. His disapproval rating rose to 59.4 percent, up 5.5 percentage points from the prior survey.
KSOI said opposition to Kim's appointment had crossed the majority threshold and that the president's final decision on the nomination would likely have a significant impact on public assessments of his administration. The institute added that the high level of opposition among centrist voters, at a time when the president's approval rating has hit a record low, could place a considerable burden on the government going forward.
The ruling and opposition parties traded blame over the outcome of the hearing. Democratic Party floor leader Han Byung-do, speaking at a party leadership meeting held in Daejeon on Wednesday, said Tuesday's confirmation hearing "became a stage for political bickering filled with shouting and finger-pointing, rather than a forum to hear the nominee's explanations and assess his policies and capabilities." He urged the People Power Party to stop turning confirmation hearings into political battlegrounds and expressed regret over how the session unfolded.
PPP floor leader Jeong Jeom-sik struck back at an emergency press briefing the same day, saying the hearing "was from the outset a shield to protect Kim Seung-won and a deception of the people," and that Democratic Party lawmakers had hurled insults at PPP members, calling them "demons," "weapons" and "vipers." He warned that if President Lee pushed ahead with the appointment, he would face "a public verdict far more fearsome than any court ruling."
At Tuesday's hearing, Kim shed tears while defending himself against allegations surrounding a social cooperative for people with developmental disabilities where his spouse works, appealing to the committee that he had been wronged. The PPP dismissed his display of emotion as "crocodile tears."
The session was also marred by a string of crude remarks. After the opposition raised objections over time limits on lawmakers' questioning, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Dong-a shouted "demon" at PPP lawmaker Ju Jin-woo. Ju pointed back at Kim and shot back, "What did you say? The ones siphoning off subsidies for their families — they're the demons." Kim responded by repeating the word twice: "I said demon. Demon."
PPP lawmaker Kim Tae-gyu then confronted Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chairwoman Seo Young-gyo, demanding she compel an apology for the "demon" remark and asking whether the situation was normal. Democratic Party lawmakers responded with shouts of their own, telling him to get his "hideous face" out of the way. During the afternoon session, Kim Tae-gyu continued his attacks on the nominee, suggesting that Kim Seung-won's tearful morning appearance might be a sign of menopause.
Meanwhile, controversy erupted after a staff member accompanying Kim Seung-won was spotted appearing to covertly photograph notes written by PPP lawmaker Ju during the hearing. It was not confirmed whether the aide had actually photographed and shared Ju's documents.
After the incident was caught on camera, Ju posted on Facebook that he could not hide his displeasure, writing, "How can a justice minister nominee surveil me, a member of the confirmation committee? Is this something that can happen in a liberal democracy?" Kim's camp apologized, saying the aide "took the photo out of poor judgment during the hearing and deleted it immediately upon realizing the mistake," and that "neither Kim nor anyone else instructed or was involved in directing the photo to be taken."
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