People Power Party: "Kang Sunwoo Must Resign from Parliament... Will File Complaint with Ethics Committee"

Targeting Kang Sunwoo: "Preoccupied with False Explanations, Not a Single Apology to the Victim"
"Plan to Send Official Letter to Presidential Office Requesting Withdrawal of Nominations for Ahn Kyubaek, Kwon Oeul, and Chung Dongyoung"

The People Power Party announced on July 24 that it would file a complaint with the National Assembly's Ethics Committee, urging Kang Sunwoo, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea who voluntarily withdrew as Minister of Gender Equality and Family nominee the previous day, to resign from her parliamentary seat.

Song Eonseok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, targeted Representative Kang at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on this day, stating, "She was preoccupied with making false explanations and ultimately resigned in a hurry without offering even a single proper apology to the victim," and made the above remarks.

Song Eonseok, Emergency Response Committee Chairman and Floor Leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on July 24, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

He also criticized the Democratic Party, saying, "Instead of reflecting on this incident, the Democratic Party was busy defending Representative Kang," and added, "The Democratic Party, which criticized the People Power Party for raising legitimate concerns, cannot be free from responsibility either." He continued, "Representative Kang, who endured with false explanations; the Democratic Party, which blindly protected her; and President Lee Jaemyung, who pushed ahead with the request to resubmit the report?all of them cannot escape responsibility for this incident," and added, "I urge all of them to bow their heads and apologize to the people."

In addition, Song announced that he would send an official letter to the presidential office calling for the withdrawal of nominations for Ahn Kyubaek, Minister of National Defense nominee; Kwon Oeul, Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs nominee; and Chung Dongyoung, Minister of Unification nominee, all of whom he had previously labeled as the 'Five Unqualified Nominees.' With Representative Kang's voluntary resignation the previous day, it is interpreted that the People Power Party is now focusing its efforts on pressuring the withdrawal of the remaining nominees.

He also mentioned that the Special Prosecutor's Team for the Death of the Marine (Special Prosecutor Lee Myeonghyeon), which is investigating suspicions related to the death of a marine, conducted a search and seizure on July 18 at Yoido Full Gospel Church and pastors Lee Younghoon and Kim Janghwan, among others, in connection with lobbying allegations to save former Marine 1st Division Commander Lim Seonggeun. He pointed out, "While the courts become endlessly timid in front of President Lee, they are extremely bold and aggressive in issuing search and seizure warrants that oppress minority opposition parties and churches."

He emphasized, "It has been revealed that nominee Ahn had as many as 14 phone conversations with former Commander Lim. I call for an immediate search and seizure of nominee Ahn," and added, "The place nominee Ahn should go is not the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan, but the special prosecutor's office in Seocho-dong."

Furthermore, Song stated, "The repeated failures and controversies go beyond a matter of poor personnel vetting by the presidential office and raise suspicions as to whether a personnel verification system even exists in the first place," and urged, "I call for the immediate restoration of a proper personnel verification system."