野 "No Possibility of Kim Seung-hee's Voluntary Resignation... President Yoon Must Step In"

Woo Sang-ho "Regime Approval Rating Falling"
Ko Young-in "Continuous False Explanations and Passing the Buck"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The Democratic Party of Korea launched a full-scale offensive over allegations that Health and Welfare Minister nominee Kim Seung-hee violated the Political Funds Act, urging the Yoon Suk-yeol administration to withdraw the nomination.

On the 3rd, Woo Sang-ho, the emergency committee chairman, held a press conference at the National Assembly and said to the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, "The nomination of candidate Kim must be withdrawn," adding, "The repeated enforcement of unqualified personnel is causing the administration's approval ratings to plummet."

He stated, "At this point, it does not seem likely that candidate Kim will voluntarily resign," and added, "She insists she is innocent and blames it on staff mistakes, consistently making excuses, so I argue that the president must intervene."

On the same day, Representative Ko Young-in also demanded voluntary resignation through Facebook, saying, "Violations of the Political Funds Act are problematic, but a bigger issue is that as a ministerial candidate, she is deceiving the public with continuous false explanations and shirking responsibility."

He said, "After paying a deposit of 18.57 million won, the vehicle was acquired at a price almost fully deducted by depreciation," and added, "Candidate Kim acquired the car for about 9 million won, but according to my research on used car prices, a vehicle of that kind is worth at least 30 million won. If this is not for private use, then what on earth is it?"

He also criticized, "I confirmed that the renter named on the rental car contract and the car insurance contract is 'Kim Seung-hee,' the former lawmaker herself," and said, "Nearly 20 million won was spent from political funds, and this amount was treated as depreciation after three years, reducing it to zero. Is it even conceivable that staff handled this without reporting to the lawmaker?"

He continued, "There are hardly any places where you pay a deposit and rent," and said, "Based on the contract, this appears to be a deliberate expenditure with the intention of acquiring the vehicle at a low price."

Representative Ko pointed out, "After media reports, she quietly inquired with the Election Commission, returned the controversial political funds, and explained that she did not admit to violating the Political Funds Act," adding, "If there was no problem, why would the Election Commission have requested an investigation from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office?"

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