'Allegations of Assault on Exam Candidate,' Park Beom-gye: "Rather, My Wife and Child Were Threatened"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] On the 25th, Park Beom-gye, the nominee for Minister of Justice, stated at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing regarding the allegations of 'assaulting a bar exam student,' "On the contrary, at that time, my wife and child felt threatened."

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, responding to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

On the 25th, Park responded to the allegations that he assaulted a bar exam student who advocated for the retention of the judicial examination by saying, "It was a situation where one could feel threatened."

Jang Je-won, a member of the People Power Party, explained, "On November 18 last year, a very polite text message was sent to (Park) saying, 'I want to deliver a handwritten letter, but I don't know the exact address, so I left a letter and a small beverage,'” adding, "It was not intended to intimidate."

He continued, "Is it the kind of politics that Park thinks is for the weak to verbally abuse and assault those who earnestly sought a meeting by saying they would wait at home after talking with the aide, and then invoke personal information laws?"

In response, Park said, "The facts are not as such."

Park stated, "Courtesy is when the other party feels it is courteous," and added, "At 10 p.m., five to six young men much bigger than me appeared at my lodging."

He said, "They rang the doorbell at my apartment in Daejeon when I was not there at night, and those advocating for the retention of the judicial exam appeared, which greatly startled my wife. They also appeared holding picket signs on the way to school of my second son, who is in the second year of high school."

Park said, "I also feel heartache for those advocating for the retention of the judicial exam," but added, "I made a policy judgment that it would be better to nurture legal professionals evenly nationwide through the introduction of law schools rather than the existing judicial exam system."

Park expressed that if appointed as minister, he would consider temporary relief measures for those advocating for the retention of the judicial exam.

Park said, "Since law schools have already been introduced and are in operation, it is difficult to revert to the original point, but I will consider whether temporary relief measures are possible."