2024-07-22 18:24:51
Candidate Noh Kyung-pil, acknowledges and apologizes for spouse’s false residence registration 22 years ago
At the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Justice nominee Noh Kyung-pil held at the National Assembly on the 22nd, the opposition party members mainly attacked political issues, such as various suspicions surrounding President Yoon Seok-yeol’s wife Kim Kun-hee and the rejection of former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung’s application for a merged trial.
The National Assembly Special Committee on the Personnel Hearing of the Supreme Court Justice held a personnel hearing on candidate Roh at the National Assembly building on this day. The Democratic Party questioned Mrs. Kim on her alleged involvement in the manipulation of Deutsche Motors stock prices and the alleged bribery of luxury handbags.
Democratic Party lawmaker Baek Hye-ryun brought up the suspicion of stock price manipulation by Ms. Kim, saying, “Out of the 108 transactions acknowledged to have manipulated stock prices, 48 were made through the account of a ‘money master.’” “Generally speaking, isn’t this money master an accomplice? (Ms. Kim) must have been aware of it, even if only to a certain extent.” In response, candidate Roh said, “I don’t know the specifics, and I might be in charge of that case in the future, so I can’t give you a definitive answer here.”
Rep. Baek also asked, “Can the luxury bag that Mrs. Kim received at an unofficial event be considered presidential records?” The prosecution previously sent an official document to the Office of the President to secure the actual luxury bag, and the Office of the President is reviewing whether to designate it as presidential records. Candidate Roh avoided giving a direct answer, saying, “It is difficult to answer specific issues here.” As in the written response he submitted to the National Assembly the day before, he stated his basic position that “the spouses of high-ranking public officials, including the president, should not receive items for the purpose of requesting personnel favors.”
Rep. Heo Young, the Democratic Party floor leader of the Personnel Hearing Special Committee, pointed out that Ms. Kim was questioned privately by the prosecution on the 20th. Rep. Heo asked candidate Roh, “Do you think it is appropriate in front of the public to have (Ms. Kim) personally go to the prosecution office without the Prosecutor General’s knowledge when summoning suspects for questioning in major cases?” In response, candidate Roh said, “I do not know the specifics of the case, and it is difficult for me to speak as a judge because it was done by the investigative agency.”
In response, Yoo Sang-beom, floor leader of the People Power Party, came out on the defense, saying, “It’s up to the investigative authorities to decide.” Yoo pointed out, “When Cho Kuk, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was the Minister of Justice, he announced a prosecution reform plan to completely abolish public summons,” and “Since then, Cho has been summoned for questioning three times in secret in relation to his children’s college entrance exam corruption, and his wife, Chung Kyung-sim, has also been questioned in secret.” He continued, “(Former President Roh Moo-hyun’s wife) Kwon Yang-sook also received a face-to-face questioning in secret,” and argued, “It is inappropriate to criticize the First Lady’s private summons for questioning just because the government has changed.”
Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Ki-pyo recently took issue with the Supreme Court’s rejection of former Chairman Lee’s request to have the Ssangbangwool remittance to North Korea trial held together with the Daejang-dong trial. Rep. Kim asked, “Isn’t it the defendant’s natural right to request that the cases in which the indictment was filed be consolidated and tried?” In response, candidate Roh said, “The request for a trial merger is the defendant’s right, and in principle, consolidation is often advantageous to the defendant,” but added, “I believe that the relevant court will have considered various circumstances, such as the discovery of the substantive truth and a speedy trial, and reached an appropriate conclusion.”
The ruling party responded that the trials of opposition politicians, including former representative Lee, were delayed. People Power Party lawmaker Park Jun-tae said, “In the case of influential politicians, there are many cases where the trials are delayed and the period stipulated by law is greatly exceeded,” and “As many citizens know, former representative Lee is also on trial for election law-related issues, and the first trial alone has been ongoing for two years.” He also mentioned the cases of former lawmakers Yoon Mee-hyang, Choi Kang-wook, Hwang Un-ha, and Representative Cho as examples of delayed trials.
Meanwhile, candidate Roh admitted and apologized for the suspicion that his wife had moved into a public housing apartment in Gaepo-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul under false pretenses for six months starting in June 2002. However, he explained the reason, saying, “At the time, my spouse had finished working at the Suncheon branch of the (Gwangju District Court) and was scheduled to be transferred to the metropolitan area, so she had changed her address in advance,” and “It was absolutely not for the purpose of financial gain or additional benefits such as education for our children.”
Kim So-young, Donga.com reporter [email protected]
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2024-07-22 18:24:51