Kim Jongin on Lee Jinsook and Kang Sunwoo Controversies: "It's Simple if Nominees Judge Whether They Harm the President"

Regarding the US Special Envoy: "It doesn't matter whether I go or not"
"If requested to serve as special envoy, I have no intention to refuse"

Kim Jongin, former Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, commented on the opposition's efforts to force the resignation of Education Minister nominee Lee Jinsook, who is facing allegations of plagiarism, and Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Kang Sunwoo, who is embroiled in allegations of abuse of power. He stated, "If nominees themselves are found to have such (problematic) cases, they could easily resolve the matter by judging for themselves whether their appointment as minister would bring disgrace to the president or not, and making a decision accordingly. However, once they are appointed, they become attached to the position, making it difficult for them to think that way."

On the 16th, during an interview on CBS Radio, Kim was asked whether the two nominees should voluntarily step down. He replied, "If someone becomes a minister with such faults, they should be able to judge whether it would harm the president or not. That judgment must be made by themselves." He further criticized, "The most serious issue is with nominee Lee, as plagiarism in academia is akin to theft."

When asked about recent reports that he was excluded from President Lee Jae Myung's list of special envoys, and whether he would accept if the presidential office requested him to serve as a special envoy, Kim answered, "Since I said I would go, there is no need to refuse." He added, "The presidential office brought up the idea of a special envoy, and after giving it some thought, I responded positively. Since then, I have not heard anything further about it."

He continued, "Since I already responded, if they ask me to go, I will go; if not, then that's the end of it. I don't understand why there is so much talk about it, or why a (ruling party supreme council member) would send a Telegram message to the president about it." This referred to an incident on July 9, when a member of the Democratic Party was seen sending a negative opinion via Telegram to President Lee Jae Myung regarding Kim's possible appointment as special envoy during a National Assembly plenary session. Regarding reports that he had said, "If you do it in a kindergarten way, it is meaningless," in response to some ruling party members' opposition to his appointment, Kim clarified, "I did not say that," and added, "What I said was that their behavior is childish."

Meanwhile, regarding the People Power Party's launch of an Innovation Committee, Kim remarked, "Physiologically, it is extremely difficult for this party to innovate. The mainstream lawmakers from the Yeongnam region are not very interested in the party's direction," and explained, "Given the regional characteristics, they are confident that as long as they receive the party's nomination, they can become lawmakers, so they don't really care."