Adoption of 'Jongseok Lee Confirmation Report' Fails... Opposition Cites Unresolved Doubts, Ruling Party Calls It 'Political Maneuver' (Comprehensive)

Notice of Intelligence Committee Plenary Session Cancellation Delivered Just Before Meeting

The plenary session of the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, which was scheduled to decide whether to adopt the confirmation hearing report for Jongseok Lee, nominee for Director of the National Intelligence Service, was canceled on June 20.

Lee Sungkwon, a member of the People Power Party and opposition secretary of the Intelligence Committee, told reporters after the cancellation notice of the plenary session that morning, "It is difficult to adopt the confirmation hearing report today."

Previously, the Intelligence Committee had planned to convene a plenary session at 10 a.m. that day to discuss whether to adopt the confirmation hearing report for the nominee. However, 30 minutes before the scheduled start, Park Sunwon, a member of the Democratic Party and ruling party secretary of the committee, was informed of the cancellation, and the committee’s administrative office officially notified members 15 minutes before the meeting.

Regarding the reason for canceling the plenary session, Lee stated, "There are significant problems not only with the Intelligence Committee but also with the overall operation of the National Assembly in terms of the government's and the Democratic Party's attitude at the beginning of the Lee Jaemyung administration." He continued, "After conducting the confirmation hearing, there remain substantial unresolved doubts about whether the nominee is suitable as the Director of the National Intelligence Service, responsible for national security, particularly concerning his views on North Korea and security." The People Power Party had criticized the nominee as being "pro-North Korea" during the confirmation hearing the previous day.

Jongseok Lee, nominee for the Director of the National Intelligence Service, is speaking at the confirmation hearing held by the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on the 19th. 2025.6.19 Photo by Hyunmin Kim

Members of the Democratic Party on the Intelligence Committee denounced the move as a "political maneuver" and urged the People Power Party to return to normal procedures. Ruling party members of the committee held a press conference at the National Assembly’s communication center that morning, stating, "Yesterday, both the public hearing in the morning and the closed-door session in the afternoon were conducted in a consistently serious manner. During this process, the nominee sufficiently demonstrated his qualifications." They criticized, "Nevertheless, the very act of nullifying the meeting to adopt the confirmation report is not about verification, but rather a blatant indication that future confirmation hearings will be used as a tool to obstruct state affairs."

Park also pointed out, "Chairman Shin Sungbeom of the Intelligence Committee and Representative Lee have said, 'This is under the direction of the floor leadership' and that 'We cannot easily agree from the very first personnel verification.' They informed us that the decision on adopting the nominee’s confirmation report would be made only after a meeting between the floor leaders and a discussion with President Lee Jaemyung." Park criticized the cancellation of the session as unjustified.

Park Jiweon, another Democratic Party member of the Intelligence Committee, also referenced the heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, as well as the situation on the Korean Peninsula, during the press conference. He emphasized, "Adopting the confirmation hearing report for the nominee is the path that prioritizes national security, which the People Power Party claims to uphold." After the press conference, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Youngjin told reporters, "As a three-term lawmaker, it is the first time I have seen a cancellation notice given 15 minutes before a meeting after bipartisan agreement. This is the first emergency martial law in the history of confirmation hearings. It must be firmly lifted, and the confirmation hearing report should be adopted."