Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye's Hearing... Tension Over 'Witness Adoption' from the Start

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 25th, the ruling and opposition parties engaged in fierce exchanges during the confirmation hearing for Park Beom-gye, the nominee for Minister of Justice. From the adoption of witnesses and reference persons to sharp confrontations, both parties engaged in a tense battle of nerves from the start of the hearing. In particular, the People Power Party held a 'solo hearing' the previous day and demanded the withdrawal of the nomination and voluntary resignation, signaling an expected fierce attack.

Minister of Justice nominee Park Beom-gye is attending the confirmation hearing held by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 25th, delivering opening remarks. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

On the 25th, before entering the National Assembly confirmation hearing in the morning, Park Beom-gye responded to reporters' questions about allegations of morality by saying, "I can explain well," and added, "I will approach the hearing with a humble attitude. Please watch the results of the hearing."

The hearing that day was controversial due to the outdoor hearing held by the People Power Party the previous day. When Baek Hye-ryeon, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised objections to the self-held hearing before the official hearing, Kim Do-eup of the People Power Party said, "Since they would not accept any witnesses or reference persons, we had no choice but to hold our own hearing," and urged, "It is not too late even now, so adopt the witnesses."

Before the first question, the ruling party requested the income details of the law firm 'Myeonggyeong' and the salary details of the office manager who is Park's younger brother, to question the suspicion that Park was involved in the rapid growth of the law firm. Park strongly denied through a written response, stating, "I was not involved in internal operations at all, nor did I receive any profit distribution based on shares." Regarding some reports that "sales rapidly increased from 2016 when shares were reacquired after disposing of shares in 2014," he clarified, "I never disposed of shares in Myeonggyeong in 2014, so the claim that sales surged after reacquiring shares around 2016 is not true."

Regarding whether Park was complicit in the illegal election fund receipt by two close aides during the 2018 local elections, the People Power Party raised suspicions of a lax investigation, noting that Park was never summoned at the time. Kim So-yeon, a lawyer and former Daejeon city council member, whom the People Power Party requested as a witness, did not attend due to opposition from the Democratic Party. Kim claimed that two of Park's close aides had informed Park that they were demanding nomination bribes from her, but he turned a blind eye. People Power Party lawmaker Jo Su-jin criticized, "Demanding nomination bribes is a serious dereliction of duty." In response, Park's side stated, "We heard from former council member Kim once that there was a demand for money related to the election without specifying the amount, and we instructed that under no circumstances should illegal elections be conducted and that any demands for money should be absolutely refused," drawing a line against complicity allegations.

Additionally, the hearing is expected to intensively probe various allegations related to Park, including omissions in asset declarations, false real estate gifts and undervalued sales by Park's spouse, conflicts of interest surrounding the rapid growth of the law firm 'Myeonggyeong' in which Park invested, and allegations of assault at a goshiwon. Attention is also focused on Park's stance on prosecutorial reform, as the Ministry of Justice under former Minister Choo Mi-ae experienced severe conflicts with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over investigative authority and prosecutorial personnel appointments. Furthermore, questions are expected regarding current issues such as the legality of the travel ban on former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-eui, the investigation into the early shutdown of Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1, and investigations related to Prosecutor General Yoon's family.