First Day of Han Deok-su Confirmation Hearing Disrupted... Democratic and Justice Parties 'Boycott', Adjourned After 39 Minutes

Kang Byung-won, Democratic Party Personnel Hearing Special Committee Secretary, Leaves 8 Minutes After Protest Remarks
8 of 13 Personnel Hearing Special Committee Members from Democratic Party and Justice Party Refuse to Attend
"Even If Additional Materials Are Submitted Now, Resumption Possible Only in Early Next Month"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The confirmation hearing for Prime Minister nominee Han Deok-soo on the 25th was disrupted due to the refusal of members from the Democratic Party and the Justice Party's special confirmation committee to attend. The Democratic Party firmly stated that a proper hearing cannot proceed without the submission of essential documents required for personnel verification, making a postponement of the hearing inevitable. Within the party, there is an opinion that even if additional documents are submitted from now on, the resumption of Han's confirmation hearing could be possible around early next month.

Kang Byung-won, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is leaving the hearing in protest over the candidate's insufficient submission of materials at the confirmation hearing for Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo held at the National Assembly on the 25th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On that day, the confirmation hearing for nominee Han was convened at 10 a.m. but was adjourned after 39 minutes, with all eight members from the Democratic Party and the Justice Party among the 13 special committee members refusing to attend. Joo Ho-young, chairman of the special confirmation committee, declared, "To facilitate smooth meeting progress and discuss the agenda, we will adjourn temporarily and resume at 2 p.m. I ask that both ruling and opposition parties cooperate well during this time," before announcing the adjournment.

Kang Byung-won, the Democratic Party's secretary, attended alone and criticized in his opening remarks, "Despite the Democratic Party and Justice Party's request to reschedule the hearing based on the submission of thorough documents by the eight committee members (the previous day), the People Power Party unilaterally convened the meeting, which we strongly regret," and left after eight minutes. At one point, loud exchanges occurred among the lawmakers in the hearing room.

On that day, Kang emphasized that thorough verification was necessary regarding nominee Han's ▲controversy over high advisory fees paid to Kim & Chang law firm ▲conflicts of interest related to real estate transactions ▲whether the spouse's art sales were transactional ▲and suspicions about the process of wealth accumulation, and that he requested related documents but was refused on grounds such as 'non-consent to provide personal information,' 'invasion of privacy,' 'trade secrets,' and 'expiration of document retention period.'

Kang stated, "Thorough documentation is the fundamental premise for verifying high-ranking officials," and criticized, "We requested rescheduling for document submission and sufficient review, but the People Power Party unilaterally rejected and refused to negotiate, which means we cannot move toward a cooperative parliament." He raised his voice, saying, "They said changing the schedule is not right to the public, but holding such a sloppy and ineffective hearing is truly not right to the public."

After Kang left the hearing room, Seong Il-jong, the People Power Party's secretary, rebutted by saying, "Nominee Han has submitted almost all the documents," emphasizing that the requested documents numbered 1,090, which is three to four times more than during the Moon Jae-in administration. He added, "He has sincerely submitted the documents, and what is impossible simply cannot be provided."

With nominee Han's confirmation hearing disrupted from the first day, schedule adjustments became unavoidable. The Democratic Party and the Justice Party announced a press conference immediately after the adjournment to demand a postponement of the hearing schedule. A Democratic Party official said, "We plan to request renegotiation of the hearing schedule due to insufficient document submission." He added, "In the past, during former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo's case, the schedule was postponed by one day, but that was due to insufficient preparation for witness attendance. This time, because of the candidate's lack of verification documents, it will likely take longer. If nominee Han submits additional documents, the hearing should be held again around early next week."

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