Prime Minister Kim Minseok Denies Offering Prime Minister Position to Yoo Seungmin: "It Was a Request for Election Cooperation"

"Contact During the Presidential Election Was True... It Was to Request Support"
"Neither I Nor the President Ever Offered the Prime Minister Position"

Prime Minister Kim Minseok strongly denied the claim that he had offered the position of Prime Minister to former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seungmin. Prime Minister Kim drew a clear line, stating that neither he nor President Lee Jaemyung had ever made such an offer.

Prime Minister Kim Minseok strongly denied the claim that he offered the position of Prime Minister to former People Power Party lawmaker Yoo Seungmin. Photo by Yonhap News

On January 9, during a special New Year's interview with KBC that was made public, Prime Minister Kim explained the circumstances surrounding last year's presidential election. He prefaced his remarks by saying that he was in charge of contacting and recruiting figures from the conservative camp at that time.

Prime Minister Kim acknowledged that he had attempted to reach out to former lawmaker Yoo during the presidential race. He said, "At the time, I thought it would be good if former lawmaker Yoo could help with the election. I also heard from people around me that it was a possibility, so it is true that I actually called and texted him." However, he clarified that there was no direct communication with Yoo during this process.

He continued, "But I was unable to get in touch with former lawmaker Yoo," adding that he reported this situation to then-presidential candidate Lee Jaemyung. Prime Minister Kim said, "I am aware that the President sent a text message to former lawmaker Yoo shortly after that," but emphasized that this was solely a request for election cooperation and had nothing to do with offering the position of Prime Minister.

Previously, former lawmaker Yoo had publicly stated that he was offered the position of Prime Minister by President Lee's camp during the presidential race but declined. On January 1, during an appearance on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyunjung's News Show,' Yoo said, "In February last year, a Democratic Party lawmaker told me, 'Representative Lee Jaemyung asked me to convey that he would like you to serve as Prime Minister if he comes to power.'" Yoo continued, "Right then and there, I said, 'I have absolutely no intention of doing so. Please tell Representative Lee.'"

In response, Prime Minister Kim once again made his position clear. He said, "As far as I know, my intention was to ask for help with the presidential election, and neither I nor the President ever directly offered him the position of Prime Minister."

The ruling party also responded to Yoo's remarks. Previously, Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byungjoo strongly criticized the claim, pointing out, "There is a code of conduct even in politics." He said, "Politics should aim for unity," and added that using attempts at cooperation for political showmanship is inappropriate.