Opposition: "Lee Jae-myung Investigation, Political Probe to Humiliate Like Roh Moo-hyun's 'Nondureong Watch'"

Chairman Kim Seong-hwan: "97% Oppose School System Reform Plan... Park Soon-ae Should Face Post-Hearing"

Kim Seong-hwan, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, is attending the Policy Coordination Meeting held at the National Assembly on the 4th and delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate, is holding a press conference at the National Assembly on the 3rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Kim Seong-hwan, the policy chief of the opposition party and a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, directly criticized the prosecution and police investigations into Lee Jae-myung, the party leader candidate, on the 4th, saying, “This is a political investigation aimed at humiliating, just like former President Roh Moo-hyun’s ‘ditch watch’ incident.”

Kim appeared on KBS’s Choi Kyung-young’s “Strong Current Affairs” program that day and said, “The police and prosecution are leaking information in a humiliating manner, and this is precisely a political investigation.” He added, “Everyone is equal before the law, so if there is a violation or problem, it should be verified, but they are conducting investigations by repeatedly leaking things that are not facts.”

He also strongly criticized the allegations regarding the official residence construction contract. He said, “When seeing this, there are probably very few people who do not recall Choi Soon-sil’s (renamed Choi Seo-won) state affairs manipulation during the Park Geun-hye administration,” and added, “If true, this is a representative case of privatization of power.”

He continued, “During the Moon Jae-in administration, the Special Inspection Officer was not appointed because its functions overlapped with the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Unit, but under the Yoon Seok-youl administration, it seems they are practically not recognizing the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials,” urging the appointment of a Special Inspection Officer.

He also criticized the Ministry of Education’s plan to revise the school system to allow 5-year-olds to enter elementary school. He said, “(The school system reform plan) was neither a presidential election pledge nor a task reviewed by the transition committee. It seems it was suddenly announced as a way to change the political atmosphere after the president’s approval rating dropped to 20%.”

When asked about whether a post-appointment hearing should be held for Park Soon-ae, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, he said, “Of course it should be done. If Minister Park had gone through a hearing, would she have passed it?” He added, “There have been revelations of drunk driving, plagiarism of papers, and recently two lies related to submission bans were exposed. Even a post-appointment hearing would be appropriate to let the public know more about these facts.”

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