Handonghun on Opposition's Questioning of Position: "You Can Be the Only One Curious"

Handonghun Strongly Considered as Next Ruling Party Emergency Committee Chair
Opposition: "Policy Tasks Should Not Be Disrupted by Minister's Position Issue"

On the 19th, Han Dong-hoon, Minister of Justice, drew a line when opposition party lawmakers asked about his future position, including the next emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, saying, "You can be curious alone."

Kim Young-bae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, mentioned the situation where Minister Han is being strongly considered as the ruling party's emergency committee chairman during the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly that afternoon, saying, "Many citizens are curious." He then pointed out, "There are bills currently under review in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and many tasks to do, but there is a lot of talk about the future position."

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon is responding to questions from lawmakers at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 19th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

In response, Minister Han dismissed it, saying, "I don't think this is something to talk about here."

Lawmaker Kim asked again, "Are you curious if today is the last day or if next week is the last standing committee meeting?" and Minister Han replied, "I think only you, lawmaker, should be curious."

During the Q&A exchange, ruling party lawmakers jeered at Lawmaker Kim, who was probing Minister Han's future position. In response, Lawmaker Kim referred to the recent replacement of Minister of Industry and Energy Visit Byung-gyu, who was replaced three months after his appointment to run for the general election, criticizing, "Shouldn't the government run stably and predictably for the economy to run well?" He repeatedly emphasized, "I wanted to point out that there is public concern in the sense that the minister has given many answers and promises and should take good care of them."

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-jin also joined in, mentioning major policy tasks the Ministry of Justice is pursuing, such as ▲establishing an Immigration Office and ▲introducing the Korean-style Jessica Law, saying that these issues should not be affected by Minister Han's future position. Lawmaker Park said, "I am not interested in (Minister Han's) political future," adding, "I think it is something he should decide on his own." He continued, "However, regardless of ruling or opposition parties, whether conservative or progressive, I hope that significant tasks do not suffer confusion or lose momentum due to the future position of the minister of the related department."

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