Park Beom-gye Hearing... Intense Debate Between Ruling and Opposition Over 'Witness Adoption', Jang Je-won Says "Let Me Ask Some Questions"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 25th, at the confirmation hearing for Park Beom-gye, the nominee for Minister of Justice, the ruling and opposition parties engaged in fierce disputes over the 'witness adoption.' The ruling party raised objections, saying they could not understand the People Power Party holding an off-site hearing before the official hearing, and demanded that the opposition accept the witness adoption even in the afternoon, arguing that the issue would have been resolved if the witness adoption had been properly done.

On that day, the controversy centered more on the off-site hearing conducted by the People Power Party the previous day than on the verification questions for nominee Park. When Baek Hye-ryun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised objections to holding a separate hearing before the official hearing, Kim Do-eup of the People Power Party said, "Since they would not accept even one witness or reference, we had no choice but to hold our own hearing," and urged, "It is not too late even now, so adopt the witnesses."

That day, the ruling party requested details of the income of the law firm 'Myeonggyeong' and the salary details of the office manager, who is Park's younger brother, to ask about suspicions that nominee Park was involved in the rapid growth of Myeonggyeong. Park actively denied through a written response, saying, "I was not involved at all in internal operations, nor have I ever received profit distribution according to shares." Regarding some reports stating, "Sales rapidly increased from 2016 when shares were reacquired after disposing of shares in 2014," he stated, "I never disposed of shares in Myeonggyeong in 2014, so the claim that sales surged after reacquiring shares around 2016 is not true."

However, Jeon Ju-hye of the People Power Party retorted, "Looking at the written materials for the confirmation hearing, there is only one-sided explanation," and asked, "The People Power Party applied for witnesses, but it was not accepted. Can the public judge the rapid growth of the law firm Myeonggyeong with this?" Jeon said, "Even now, I request that a substantive hearing be held in the afternoon according to the consultation between the two party secretaries."

Baek said, "Regarding the rapid growth of Myeonggyeong, the representative lawyer of Myeonggyeong can sufficiently address the matter, but (the People Power Party) said they would not accept this," and criticized, "Why are you trying to make this a mudslinging hearing?" Baek added, "They said they would bring someone who can speak more accurately (but it was not accepted)...," and said, "On that principle, (the requested witnesses) could not be accepted."

Meanwhile, Jang Je-won of the People Power Party, who took the first questioning, said, "Seeing the political offensive of the Democratic Party members, (the attitude toward the hearing) is becoming harsh," and urged the ruling party to stop attacking the opposition. Jang said, "They should have called the key witnesses; otherwise, why would they have held an (off-site) hearing?" and added, "Let's start the questions now. It's already 11 o'clock. Let's proceed with the hearing." On that day, Jang focused on allegations of assault against examinees preparing for the bar exam.

Jang asked, "I focused on (nominee Park's) perception of the weak," and questioned, "Is it true that he mentioned the Personal Information Protection Act to the examinees who desperately sought help from powerful lawmakers and said he almost got hit?"

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