Candidate Park Beom-gye "Will Properly Command and Supervise Nuclear Power Plant Investigation"

Confirmation Hearing 'Morality' Verification Announced... Candidate Park's Side Refutes Point by Point Allegations of Nomination Bribery Collusion and Fictitious Address Registration

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Park Beom-gye, the nominee for Minister of Justice, stated that he would "appropriately direct and supervise" the investigation into the early shutdown allegations of the Wolseong Unit 1 nuclear power plant. This is interpreted as a move to take action considering criticisms that the prosecution is conducting an excessive investigation for political purposes.

According to the legal community on the 25th, Park, before the confirmation hearing, submitted a written response regarding the nuclear power plant investigation stating, "If there are leads for investigation, the principle is to ascertain the substantive truth." Park said, "I will direct and supervise so that the investigation is conducted according to law and principles," leading some to suggest that after assuming office, Park might exercise his authority to direct investigations.

Regarding allegations surrounding Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol's family, he said, "If appointed as minister, I will appropriately direct and supervise so that a swift investigation is conducted according to law and principles." On the high-level prosecution personnel appointments immediately following his inauguration, he stated, "I will listen to the Prosecutor General's opinions and strive to maintain a stable cooperative relationship." On prosecution reform tasks, he conveyed, "I understand that the separation of investigation and prosecution, reorganization of the prosecution, and abolition of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's intelligence functions are being discussed." However, he added, "If the prosecution's investigative authority is completely abolished immediately, there is a concern that a gap in crime response capabilities will occur," and "I agree with the statement that the police's investigative capabilities must be guaranteed for the complete separation of investigation and prosecution."

Ahead of the confirmation hearing for the Minister of Justice nominee, scheduled to be held at the National Assembly from 10 a.m. that day, he also preemptively expressed his stance on major controversies. The controversies raised after his nomination are matters directly related to morality, such as assault, complicity in nomination bribe misconduct, false address registration, traffic law violations, and omission of property declaration.

First, regarding the claim by former Daejeon City Council member Kim So-yeon, who alleged that she was asked for 100 million won as a price for nomination by a close aide of Park during the 2018 local elections, Park said, "I heard from former Council member Kim once that there was a demand for money related to the election without specifying the amount, and I instructed her never to comply with any illegal election money demands," drawing a line against complicity charges.

Park, who even disclosed the prosecution and court rulings at the time, explained, "It was clearly recognized that just hearing about the money demand does not mean that one knew the demands would continue afterward."

Regarding the 'trick disposal' allegations involving the sale of a Daegu house and commercial building owned by his spouse to relatives at a low price, he stated, "Considering the building's construction year, real estate condition and location, and comparison with surrounding actual transaction prices, it is not a low-price sale." Mentioning surrounding actual transaction cases, Park said, "It was a place filled with family memories held by my in-laws for 50 years, making it difficult to dispose of it to anyone other than family or relatives."

Regarding the allegations of rapid growth of the law firm Myeonggyeong, which have been controversial since his nomination, he actively denied them, saying, "It was achieved through the expansion of work by affiliated lawyers, such as opening branch offices. I was not involved in internal operations at all, nor did I receive profit distribution based on shares." Regarding some reports stating, "Sales rapidly increased from 2016 after reacquiring shares following the disposal of shares in 2014," he clarified, "I never disposed of shares in Myeonggyeong in 2014, so the claim that shares were reacquired around 2016 and sales surged is not true."

Meanwhile, the hearing is expected to focus intensively on allegations of assault against a bar examinee. Previously, a group of bar examinees advocating for the retention of the judicial examination claimed that in November 2016, when they met Park to appeal for the retention of the judicial exam, one member was assaulted by Park.