Na Kyung-won: "At that time, I was a 'person with a broken string'"... Kim Nam-guk: "Not an explanation, but a confession"

Na Kyung-won "No Exploitation of Son's Thesis Fraud"
Kim Nam-guk "Including Former Rep. Na... Thorough Investigation Needed"

Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 21st of last month, explaining a bill proposal. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 18th, Kim Namguk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, evaluated former Future United Party (now People Power Party) lawmaker Na Kyung-won's explanation regarding the suspicion of her son's name being listed as an author on a research poster, saying, "Na's explanation is a 'confession that specifically reveals the motive and method of the crime.'"

In a post on his Facebook on the same day, Rep. Kim said, "Sometimes, when handling criminal cases, suspects provide detailed statements unfavorable to themselves during the investigation stage. This can be due to not fully understanding the elements constituting the crime, or occasionally, some people really live in a different world, thinking 'What's the problem with this?' It seems Na belongs to the latter," he said.

He criticized, "Everyone criticizes that the child needed a supervising teacher, so a friend was called to use the lab, and research was conducted through a Seoul National University professor, calling it 'mom's chance,' 'special treatment,' and 'unfairness,' but she absurdly tries to package it as a 'disconnected' mother's heart."

He continued, "She selectively extracts favorable facts to support her claims," and pointed out, "Na claims that 'there was no illegality concluded regarding the research integrity issue related to her son,' but the Seoul National University Research Integrity Committee's judgment is only that it is not a 'serious non-compliance,' not that there is no problem at all."

Rep. Kim also raised doubts, saying, "In particular, regarding the poster listed as the fourth author, the Seoul National University Research Integrity Committee judged that it was merely helping with data verification and it is difficult to see it as a contribution enough to be included as an author," and added, "It makes me wonder if the name was forcibly added as an author to create achievements for overseas university admissions."

He added, "This is already a considerably delayed investigation," and said, "Even now, a thorough investigation should be conducted regarding Na's 'mom's chance' and various other suspicions. This is the best way to partially restore the trust lost by last year's prosecution's 'selective investigation.'"

Former Floor Leader of the Liberty Korea Party (now People Power Party), Na Kyung-won, who was indicted over the 20th National Assembly fast-track (rapid processing agenda) clash incident, is responding to reporters' questions before attending the first trial held at the Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 21st of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, on the 16th, former lawmaker Na explained the suspicion regarding her son's name being listed as an author on a research poster, saying, "He did not unfairly ride on someone else's research."

She said on her Facebook, "In 2014, my son, who had returned to Korea after being in the United States, said he wanted to challenge a science competition," and added, "As a mother who wanted to help in any way, I sought help through acquaintances."

She explained, "At that time, I was not a sitting lawmaker who forced unreasonable requests through aides," and "It was almost 30 months after I resigned from my lawmaker position to run for Seoul mayor."

Na emphasized, "At that time, I was deeply involved in Special Olympics Korea with about ten staff members, dedicating myself to activities for the human rights and awareness improvement of people with disabilities," and added, "But the staff worried that I had become a so-called 'disconnected person' since I had been away from politics for too long and that donations were insufficient. That was the Na Kyung-won of 2014."

Finally, she claimed, "I did not contact the president or dean to exert pressure, nor did I manipulate the listing of authorship to include myself as the primary author of research I did not conduct or unfairly ride on someone else's research."

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