Yoon, Following Shin Won-sik and Yoo In-chon, Will Kim Haeng Take a 'Direct Breakthrough'?

Presidential Office Analyzes Political Conflict as Cause Rather Than Personnel Itself
Intensified Ruling and Opposition Clash in National Assembly... Legal Action Against Nominee Kim Also Considered
National Audit Begins Tomorrow... Confrontation Worsens Ahead of Election

President Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to soon decide whether to appoint Kim Haeng, the nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family. Although the Blue House has stated that it will observe the situation in the National Assembly, there is a strong perception that there is no problem with the appointment itself, making it highly likely that President Yoon will take a 'direct breakthrough' approach. The opposition party continues to call for the withdrawal of Kim's nomination.

Earlier, on the weekend of the 7th, President Yoon appointed Shin Won-sik as Minister of National Defense and Yoo In-chon as Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Minister Shin held a confirmation hearing on the 27th of last month, and although the legal deadline for adopting the confirmation hearing report was April 4th, it was not adopted due to lack of agreement between the ruling and opposition parties. Consequently, President Yoon requested the resubmission of the report to the National Assembly on the 5th, and when the report was not adopted within the two-day deadline, he proceeded with the appointment process. In the case of Minister Yoo, a confirmation hearing was held on the 5th, after which a confirmation hearing report with a 'disqualification' opinion was adopted.

The remaining appointment is that of nominee Kim. The Blue House has not taken a clear stance on Kim's appointment, stating that "the National Assembly must conclude whether to adopt the confirmation hearing report after the hearing procedures are completed," but it views the outcome as a result of political conflict rather than an issue with the appointment itself. If this trend continues, it is expected that President Yoon will also appoint Kim following the proper procedures.

However, the atmosphere differs from that surrounding Ministers Shin and Yoo. On the 8th, the leadership of the Democratic Party of Korea held a meeting and decided to consider legal action based on a comprehensive assessment of Kim's walkout and insincere responses.

Park Sung-jun, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, criticized Kim at a National Assembly briefing, calling her "a department store of suspicions, from fleeing the hearing to controversies over cryptocurrency holdings," and stated, "If the government and ruling party have even a little fear of the people, they should immediately withdraw the nomination." He added, "During the hearing, the People Power Party was only eager to defend Kim, who did not submit materials regarding cryptocurrency holdings and transaction details," and continued, "From stock parking, promotion of yellow journalism, relationship with First Lady Kim Keon-hee, labor law violations, to unreasonable wealth accumulation suspicions, the more you investigate, the more suspicions emerge."

On the other hand, the People Power Party is actively defending Kim. Regarding the collective walkout of ruling party lawmakers and Kim at the end of the hearing on the 5th, they stated it was "an act of active protest." Chief spokesperson Yoo Sang-beom questioned, "If the chairperson of the confirmation hearing unilaterally sets the schedule and operates the hearing in a way that is obviously biased and inevitably enrages the other side, can such a confirmation hearing be properly conducted?" Regarding Kim's simultaneous walkout, he said, "She went according to the ruling party's request," and added, "I do not think there is a situation warranting a new confirmation hearing or voluntary withdrawal."

The problem is that there is no possibility of resolving the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties in the National Assembly. The last National Assembly inspection of the 21st National Assembly begins tomorrow, with potential flashpoints such as the 'Lee Jae-myung judicial risk' and the 'Supreme Court Chief Justice appointment vacancy crisis' awaiting. Moreover, since this is taking place ahead of the general election in April next year, the political power struggle between the ruling and opposition parties is bound to intensify. As a result, even if President Yoon ultimately appoints Kim, since the ruling and opposition parties and Kim will face each other again at the Gender Equality and Family Ministry’s inspection, a strong confrontation in the National Assembly appears inevitable.

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