Overview
- Kim Seung-won announced at a National Assembly press conference that he was withdrawing his candidacy for justice minister because he did not want controversy to become a burden on the Lee administration and because he felt he had fallen short of public expectations.
- His confirmation hearing had been dominated by accusations that he relayed a 2021 request to drug regulators to speed a Genencell COVID-19 clinical trial, showed preferential treatment tied to a social cooperative employing family members, and failed to disclose a past drunk-driving conviction.
- Kim denied illegal conduct, pledged to keep pushing for prosecutorial reform, and accused former President Yoon Suk Yeol and lawmaker Han Dong-hoon of politically motivated probes and of improperly using internal prosecution records.
- The National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee adopted his confirmation hearing report shortly before his withdrawal and the presidential office issued a statement saying it respected his decision.
- The vacancy leaves a key post tied to oversight of the prosecution unfilled and deepens public scrutiny of early cabinet picks, which could slow the Lee administration’s reform agenda and force new nomination battles.