[Summary] Kim Nam-guk "Inciting Judges' Collective Action? Nonsense Novel" vs Opposition "Call Records Must Be Disclosed"

Opposition: "Kim Nam-guk Induced Judges' Collective Action... Considering Filing Ethics Committee Complaint in National Assembly"
Kim Nam-guk: "No Fact of Induction, No Ability to Induce"

Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is questioning at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office audit held by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee in Yeouido, Seoul, on October 22.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 2nd, Kim Namguk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, rebutted the opposition party's claim that he induced collective action by judges in relation to the suspicion of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's surveillance of judges, calling it a "nonsense novel without plausibility."

In a post on his Facebook that afternoon, Rep. Kim said, "There was no fact of inducing collective action by judges, nor do I have the ability to induce it. And it is not possible. Rather, I want to ask if the People Power Party thinks that is possible," he said.

Earlier, Jo Sujin of the People Power Party raised suspicions through her Facebook the day before, saying, "Last week, during a call at the Legislative and Judiciary Committee administrative office, Rep. Kim said things like 'Judges need to move,' 'Even lawyers who used to be judges should move,' 'We need to wage a public opinion battle,' and 'Please arrange some contacts,' thus inducing collective action by judges."

In response, Rep. Kim said, "The call was made in the presence of 2 to 3 staff members of the Legislative and Judiciary Committee administrative office. Even with a little investigation and verification, it can be known that this is not true, yet some conservative media write suspicious articles, and some members of the People Power Party pick them up to forcibly create controversy," criticizing it as a "very inappropriate political attack."

He continued, "The person I spoke with that day was neither a judge, prosecutor, nor lawyer," and explained, "We only exchanged opinions such as 'There was an illegal act beyond the scope of the prosecution's duties regarding the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's illegal surveillance of judges, which should never have happened,' and 'Judges would be boiling with anger over this.'

He also pointed out, "If you are going to distort and fabricate things, it would be better to make it somewhat plausible," adding, "Why does the discussion of 'exemption from illegality' come up in the process of discussing Prosecutor General Yoon's suspension decision? Even those who are not law majors would know from that phrase alone that it is a baseless story that never happened."

So Joo-jin, a member of the People Power Party, is attending the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held at the National Assembly on September 7. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, the People Power Party urged Rep. Kim, who is suspected of 'judge manipulation,' to disclose the call records.

On the same day, members of the People Power Party in the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee held a press conference, saying, "If Rep. Kim is confident, he should disclose the call records first," and pointed out, "Even the attempt to induce collective action by judges is serious."

They added, "The date and time of the problematic call have been identified," and said, "If he is confident, there should be no reason not to disclose the call records for that time period himself."

They also emphasized, "Rep. Kim's actions are a new form of manipulation following public opinion manipulation, election manipulation, and media manipulation. The People Power Party clearly states that it is conducting multifaceted legal reviews for filing complaints and submitting to the National Assembly Ethics Committee."