Kim Dae-gi: "I have never expressed intention to resign... This is not the place to decide my own position"

Regarding Kim Geon-hee's Plagiarism Controversy: "Judged by Experts from Kookmin University"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Myunghwan] Kim Dae-gi, Chief Presidential Secretary, stated on the 23rd that he has never tendered his resignation to President Yoon Seok-yeol.

On the afternoon of the same day, Kim appeared before the National Assembly's Steering Committee and responded to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Soo-heung asking, "Have you ever expressed your intention to resign to the President due to the overall disorder in state affairs?" by saying, "No. No staff member of the Secretariat has the authority to resign at will." He further explained, "If the President needs (the staff), he uses them, and if the President does not need them, (the staff member) must leave even for a moment."

When asked, "As Chief Secretary, do you have the intention to act responsibly?" he retorted, "Are you asking me to resign?" and added, "I believe my position is not something I decide on my own."

In response to the question, "Are you willing to apologize to the public as Chief Secretary for the disorder in state affairs?" he replied, "If we have many shortcomings and deficiencies, we will correct them and meet the public's expectations."

To the remark, "Be honest with the public. If it were me, I would say I am sorry for the shortcomings but will work hard," he answered, "I will work hard."

Regarding the plagiarism controversy over First Lady Kim Geon-hee's doctoral dissertation, Democratic Party lawmaker Kang Min-jung asked, and Kim responded, "Experts at Kookmin University have made a judgment for now," adding, "I do not think I am in a position to comment on this. I hope more experts will make a judgment." Previously, Kookmin University had ruled that four of Mrs. Kim's past papers did not constitute plagiarism.

Kim also responded to criticism that "the report notifying the Ministry of Education of the dissertation verification results from Kookmin University is only about four lines long. It has no title, author, date, or anything. How can they send verification results on such a controversial issue like that?" by saying, "I will look into it."

He did not respond to the question, "Are you aware of the apology demand from the Sookmyung Women's University professor who claims to be a victim of plagiarism?"

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