At the Hearing of Lee Won-seok, Heated Debate Between Ruling and Opposition Over Choi Kang-wook's Committee Eligibility... Involvement of Cho Kuk's Son, Public Official Election Act Violation, and Media-Prosecutor Collusion Cases

Democratic Party lawmaker Choi Kang-wook is making a personal statement at the confirmation hearing for nominee Lee Won-seok for Prosecutor General held at the National Assembly on the 5th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] At the confirmation hearing for Lee Won-seok, the nominee for Prosecutor General, held by the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee starting on the morning of the 5th, a fierce dispute broke out between the ruling and opposition parties over the eligibility of Rep. Choi Kang-wook of the Democratic Party to serve as a hearing member.

Ruling party members argued that Rep. Choi, who is currently facing three trials, was not qualified to serve as a hearing member. However, opposition members defended him, stating that since he has already been indicted and is undergoing trial, there is no risk of exerting pressure on the prosecution, and that in the past, ruling party members have also served on the Judiciary Committee while facing trials.

Toward the end of the dispute, Rep. Choi himself stepped forward to rebut, telling the ruling party members, "A broken record is playing," to which Rep. Jeong Jeom-sik, the ruling party’s committee secretary, countered that Choi’s case should be viewed differently because, unlike other members, his crimes were committed for personal gain.

The confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties began immediately after the nominee’s opening remarks and lasted for about 30 minutes.

Rep. Jo Su-jin of the People Power Party, who opened the debate, targeted Rep. Choi, saying, "One of the members here applied to join the Judiciary Committee after becoming a defendant in three serious cases," adding, "This alone inevitably raises conflict of interest concerns. Moreover, the confirmation hearing has a disqualification rule that excludes members with conflicts of interest or clear reasons for lack of fairness from participating." She publicly demanded Rep. Choi’s disqualification.

Rep. Jang Dong-hyuk of the same party added, "Looking at the 914 pages of written questions submitted today, item 26 of Rep. Choi Kang-wook’s written questions to the Prosecutor General nominee asks about collusion between the prosecution and the media," and said, "This can be seen as a message to the prosecution that Rep. Choi is fixated on a specific case related to himself. It effectively amounts to pressure."

As the hearing showed signs of stagnation early on due to the dispute over Rep. Choi’s eligibility, Kim Do-eup, the People Power Party’s Judiciary Committee chairman, urged cooperation between the ruling and opposition party secretaries, saying, "This issue has come up multiple times. Under the Confirmation Hearing Act, if grounds for disqualification are recognized, the member’s participation in the hearing can be excluded by resolution."

In response, the Democratic Party, including Rep. Ki Dong-min, the opposition party’s Judiciary Committee secretary, as well as Reps. Park Ju-min and Kim Ui-gyeom, filed procedural motions to rebut.

Rep. Ki Dong-min said, "It would be better to change this from Lee Won-seok’s confirmation hearing to Choi Kang-wook’s confirmation hearing," adding, "If the two party floor leaders do not clearly set standards and criteria regarding Rep. Choi’s status, the issue will not be resolved. Continuing to raise this issue despite knowing this seems like an intention to politicize this confirmation hearing, which is very regrettable."

Rep. Park said, "Rep. Jo Su-jin, who raised the conflict of interest issue, is also under investigation and trial related to election law, but we have not criticized her in the same way," emphasizing, "I hope the Judiciary Committee can operate smoothly and harmoniously based on trust among fellow members."

Rep. Kim also said, "Even a song can be sung once or twice, but I don’t know how to interpret the continuous variations of the same song," and questioned, "Has Rep. Choi ever made a statement or argument to defend himself regarding his own issues?"

Choi Kang-wook: "These incidents happened under the direct orders of the President"... "A broken record is playing"

Given the opportunity to speak directly, Rep. Choi Kang-wook said, "A broken record is playing hard," adding, "I thought it wouldn’t happen, but as expected, this is how it goes."

He said, "The same story, logically weak arguments, ignoring the past, not reflecting on themselves, distorting small facts to make it seem like something is going on, even exaggerating," and asked, "You say you requested materials and made statements about your own case? Are you really fellow lawmakers and legal professionals?"

Rep. Choi asked again, "The written question I requested was just a 2-3 line answer: ‘The candidate’s views and preventive measures regarding collusion between the prosecution and the media.’ Is this pressure on the case or a conflict of interest?"

He continued, "Can you confidently say that the collusion between the media and prosecution you shout about is unrelated to TV Chosun’s distorted and obviously intentional reports, and is just an independent political opinion? Have you ever spoken about this yourself and reflected on it?"

Rep. Choi said, "I understand that there are people who held onto the Judiciary Committee chairmanship until the indictment and trial of their own cases were underway and are now leading their parties, but ignoring all these facts and talking about things that have been obvious for two years, while even more eagerly picking up facts about my trial..."

At this point, Chairman Kim Do-eup told Rep. Choi, "Rep. Choi Kang-wook, please moderate your language and be polite. ‘Picking up’ means..." and tried to restrain him, but Rep. Choi said, "Please do not interrupt me while I am speaking," and continued.

Rep. Choi said, "Please consider how long I have to endure your repeated insulting remarks and maintain dignity, and I believe you know well what facts your statements are based on."

He added, "There are indeed three criminal cases ongoing, right? How are they proceeding? These are cases happening under the direct orders of the current President," he said.

He also claimed, "You say that supporting the person who made him President and defending those actions is not a petty political attack and not done under anyone’s orders, but no citizen would understand it that way."

Finally, Rep. Choi asked, "Please restrain yourselves, and stop playing broken records, pirate copies, and defective records without any original record."

Jeong Jeom-sik: "Committed crimes helping Cho Kuk’s son, lied to hide crimes, fabricated non-existent Channel A case"... Different from other members’ cases

Following the dispute over Rep. Choi’s eligibility and his rebuttal, Rep. Jeong Jeom-sik, the People Power Party’s Judiciary Committee secretary, stepped forward.

Rep. Jeong said, "According to an agreement between the two party secretaries, we promised not to make procedural remarks, but I find it impossible to keep that promise, so I will speak."

He said, "Rep. Choi just asked how long he has to endure, but there is no need to endure. He can request a transfer and resign from the Judiciary Committee himself."

Rep. Jeong said, "Many Democratic Party members say, ‘There have been members on the Judiciary Committee who were on trial before,’ and some even gave examples themselves. Rep. Park Ju-min said, ‘I am also currently on trial related to the fast-track process.’"

He continued, "But we need to separate the cases. We must distinguish between those who were indicted while serving as Judiciary Committee members and those who were appointed to the committee after being indicted."

Rep. Jeong emphasized, "As you all know, the fast-track case arose from the Democratic Party’s efforts to introduce a mixed-member proportional representation system and establish the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, which involved many struggles with our party and within the National Assembly. This was not a dispute for personal gain."

He added, "But look at Rep. Choi’s case. He committed crimes to help the son of former Minister Cho Kuk, with whom he has a long-standing relationship. When indicted for that case, he lied to defend himself and was indicted again for fabricating a non-existent Channel A ‘prosecution-media collusion’ case and making statements about it. Moreover, Rep. Choi is the accuser in the Deutsche Motors case," he said.

Rep. Jeong said, "That is why our party keeps raising this issue, and it is not like playing a broken radio as he claims."

He concluded, "Really, stop enduring it and resign yourself. If you are appointed to another standing committee, you won’t have to endure it anymore."

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