DPK: "Most Suspicions Against Kim Minseok Resolved at Hearing... Please Cooperate on Confirmation"

43% Respond "Suitable" in Korea Gallup Survey

Moon Jinseok, the Deputy Floor Leader for Operations of the Democratic Party of Korea, appealed to the opposition for cooperation in approving Prime Minister nominee Kim Minseok on June 29, stating, "Most of the suspicions raised by the People Power Party have been resolved through the confirmation hearing."

Appearing on KBS1TV's "Sunday Diagnosis Live" that day, Deputy Floor Leader Moon said, "After the confirmation hearing, Kim Minseok has the highest suitability rating among all prime minister nominees in recent surveys." He referred to a Korea Gallup poll conducted from June 24 to 26 among 1,004 adults aged 18 or older, in which 43% of respondents said Kim was suitable for the role of prime minister.

Moon emphasized, "There has been no evidence that Kim Minseok used his public position for private gain," and added, "Even when the Democratic Party was the major opposition party, we supported the confirmation of Han Ducksoo, the first prime minister under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, as a party policy so he could work." He continued, "I have suggested that the confirmation bill for the prime minister be brought to a vote through the exercise of the speaker's authority, but it seems the speaker has many concerns." He went on to say, "If the plenary session is not held on the 30th, we are considering convening a session on July 3 to address both the supplementary budget bill and the prime minister confirmation bill together."

Regarding the supplementary budget bill, which includes a "Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupon" of 150,000 to 520,000 won per person, Moon explained, "There will be a financial burden on local governments, so we are considering adjusting the local government share from the current 20% to around 10% during the supplementary budget review process." He added, "The People Power Party disparages and criticizes this as an 'election reward,' but if it helps the economy recover, we are willing to accept the criticism." He also said, "Considering administrative procedures, I expect the implementation period to be from late July to early August."

The Korea Gallup poll mentioned that day had a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The survey was conducted through interviews with telephone operators using randomly generated mobile phone numbers. The contact rate was 44.9%, and the response rate was 13.4%.