Foreign and Defense Ministers Do Not Attend Government Questions...What are the positions of the ruling and opposition parties?

■ Host: Anchor Kim Youngsoo Kim
■ Starring: Kim Jae-won, Supreme Council member of the People's Power, former Democratic Party lawmaker Shin Kyung-min

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN NewsON] when quoting.

[Anchor]
Let's start with <Politics On> that looks into the outside and inside of politics. Today, let's point out with Kim Jae-won, the supreme council member of the People's Power, and Shin Kyung-min, a former lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea. Please come in. Hello. Today's first issue is that Kim Jae-won, the supreme council member, came, so I heard you weren't invited to last Sunday's dinner? Who invited you?

[Kim Jaewon]
Rather than not actually receiving an invitation, I just invited certain people in the process of selecting the target, and I don't think this was the case when we invited someone from the Supreme Council to have dinner together.

[Anchor]
To summarize what has been known so far, Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun proposed a lightning dinner with President Yoon Suk Yeol, and President Yoon said okay. Right?

[Kim Jaewon]
So I have something to say about medical reform by calling. I want to meet you while doing that, so I ask you to come in. I'm going to go with a few people.

[Anchor]
Are you saying that you went with Kim Min-jeon, Supreme Council member In Yo-han, and these two?

[Kim Jaewon]
It says it did, but it seems uncertain. Anyway, that's how the dinner ended, and then the dinner ended at around 9 o'clock, and then the next day was in the morning, so there must be someone who informed the media after the dinner. Anyway, that was the situation. In the process, from the president's point of view, there are quite a lot of struggles on the weekend with medical reform, so wouldn't you listen to many people's stories and be actually worried about the atmosphere at the site?
But a senior lawmaker in the Seoul metropolitan area said he had something to say, so he would have said, "Let's hear from him." You must have met with Yo-han, a former doctor, because there was a supreme council member there. In any case, this is not true as it has come to be seen as if the president had a dinner without the party leader, and furthermore, as if there is a certain gap in the leadership. I'd like to tell you that it's not really a dinner that started like that
.

[Anchor]
It's to discuss the problems of the medical field and hear voices. Some say that we should have met with CEO Han Dong-hoon earlier.

[Kim Jaewon]
However, Han Dong-hoon had already raised the issue first at the party-government-government meeting, and the government initially said that freezing the number of medical schools in 2026 was practically difficult, but the issue proposed at the party-government-government-government meeting continued to be controversial and known, and through medical reform, the emergency room is about to be paralyzed, for example, as medical doctors continue to strike. Isn't there such a concern? So, the government accepted that it would be good to form a ruling-opposition council involving the ruling-opposition party and the medical community, and furthermore, it was possible to discuss the number of medical schools from zero to zero, not expanding the number of medical schools in 2026. In such a situation, he said he would tell me the problems of the medical field right now, so I think we met. So Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun wants to meet and tell you about it, but before we hear the story here, we should call CEO Han Dong-hoon and ask him first, but I don't think it was a situation where we could do that.

[Anchor]
Thank you. Let me ask Senator Shin Kyung-min in more detail. Of course, it's about the ruling party. There are many people who are curious about why the Han Dong-hoon leadership is missing.

[nervous]
If you look at the circumstances, I think this dinner was first proposed by someone who arranged the dinner, and the person who arranged it went with a few people, and what these people had in common was proposed as pro-Yoon Sang-hyun and pro-Yoon Seok-yeol.

[Anchor]
The Han Dong-hoon leadership is missing.

[nervous]
I think it is characterized by the fact that the leadership or people who are considered close are organized in a structure that cannot be included in this. And rather than excluding the leadership on purpose, it is clear that the meaning of this dinner itself was that Yoon Sang-hyun and Yoon Seok-yeol went. The other thing is that the reason for postponing the dinner on August 30th actually came out, but it's not real. That's not what's on the outside. Chuseok is coming, so everyone is busy, so we want to meet after Chuseok, but in fact, we should have had a dinner on August 30th. And because of medical school problems, medical disputes, and medical disputes, it's true that August 30th dinner is no matter how busy we are because of the medical conflict. Isn't there no bigger issue than this?

In that sense, there was no problem if the dinner was held on August 30th, not this time, and it was important that representatives of the two passports, Han Dong-hoon and Yoon Suk Yeol, had a medical conflict and disagreed with each other on the issue of medical collapse, but it was a bigger surprise to cancel the dinner on August 30th. So this time, someone arranged the dinner and someone made a comment. There are definitely people who have doubts. I won't tell you this, but there's someone who's suspicious. The organizer and publisher of the dinner proposal...

[Anchor]
Then, we have not been able to confirm who it is.

[nervous]
It's not confirmed, but there are definitely people who are suspicious. And the other thing is lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyun's role, and he said the right thing every day, both when he lost the general election and when he ran as the representative at the national convention. I said the right thing about the future of Korea and the politics of Korea every day, but I don't think I'm really that kind of person. That's why this is very important.

[Anchor]
That's what Chief Choi Jae-sung said about the split dinner. This was an informal dinner.

[nervous]
It's not without that aspect, but Chief Choi Jae-sung's story doesn't seem to hit the nail on the head.

[Anchor]
It could have been unknown because this was an unofficial dinner. There are also four people I met, as far as it's known. But if it was known, wouldn't someone have known it? I ate it on Sunday evening, and it was known right away on Monday morning.

[Kim Jaewon]
So there are many speculations about why this was known, and even Supreme Council member Kim Jong-hyuk appeared on the show and raised a question about it. And because Supreme Council member Kim Jong-hyuk said he couldn't get through to me. Actually, I talked on the phone. But of course, I talked on the phone right after the show was over, and Supreme Council member Kim Jong-hyuk talked on the phone right before the show was over, and after the show, I got on the phone. But I called 40 journalists because they didn't talk about it.

[Anchor]
For having dinner together?

[Kim Jaewon]
That's how the news came out, so I was going to explain it all. But in this situation, I don't think it's a matter of dividing sides at the time.

[Anchor]
One of the reasons why the media was so interested is that they see it as an extension of Yoon Han-gal. So we decided to have a dinner after Chuseok. The date hasn't been set yet.

[Kim Jaewon]
I think I'll be invited soon after Chuseok, but anyway, since this dinner is known to the outside world right now, and it's controversial, I think the president must have been very cautious about meeting many people in his official residence. In the past, during the Park Geun Hye administration, I was the floor chief at the time. It was the 2nd anniversary of the election of the president. On that day, a senior lawmaker from the metropolitan area also accompanied several lawmakers and had a dinner at former President Park Geun Hye's Blue House residence. But that day, it happened to be the 2nd anniversary of the election. So I gave her a bouquet of flowers and probably did it. I wasn't there. But the event also became known right after that. So, unfortunately, the party leader at the time was Kim Moo-sung.

So CEO Kim Moo-sung thanked the citizens for winning the presidential election and greeted them on the street that day. Then the next day, at the general meeting of the lawmakers, Kim Moo-sung shouted out in outrage. Many people who worked hard in the presidential election were greeting on the street, and those who were not helpful in some presidential elections sang and played next to the president. How would I feel to hear the story? He said it seemed like blood was rising upside down, and he incited. Then, former President Park Geun Hye became careful to meet with lawmakers at his official residence, and in the end, it was almost cut off. So even in this situation, the president will want to hear a little bit about the current strike of medical personnel, the fatigue of many people in the process of medical reform, or what lawmakers think. But if I say it officially, I can't hear what's inside, so I'm doing this kind of event. I just don't want everything to stop because of this.

[nervous]
I think that episode is about the 2nd anniversary of Park Geun Hye's president. The person who made that strange Cheong Wa Dae dinner was also the person who called the president of Park Geun Hye sister or sister anyway. Sister, I was calling you, so the organizer of this dinner proposal is almost revealed. From that point of view, what Chief Choi Jae-sung is talking about in this case did not hit the nail on the head, but there is definitely that aspect. And Kim Jae-won is the best. The people here are the two Chin-yoon, this side, and that side. I think it has been confirmed this time that the two pro-yoon clearly does not belong to the two pro-yoon.

[Anchor]
However, Kim Jong-hyuk, the supreme council member, could be misunderstood a little, so this was an informal dinner. At this point, shouldn't Chief of Staff Jeong Jin-seok explain and call the president's office to resolve such misunderstandings?

[nervous]
I'm sure there are some people who think they're someone who can look closely at the inside story and get to know it. I know some of them now, but it's not easy to explain.

[Anchor]
Did you receive such a call from the presidential office?

[Kim Jaewon]
I got a call from the senior secretary for political affairs. As a brief explanation of the circumstances, there was a brief explanation as reported in the media. I don't know if you've explained it to the other Supreme Council members or not. I think I got a call because I had other reasons. I think it's like this in passing words. And we talked about a different business from me.

[Anchor]
The biggest interest is when President Yoon Suk Yeol will meet with representative Han Dong-hoon's leadership after the Chuseok holiday. Let's wait and see. Let's move on to the next keyword. The next keyword is non-attendance. Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol. Today, the two ministers announced their absence from the interpellation session, citing their attendance at the international conference, but the voices of the ruling and opposition parties are mixed. I don't even know who's right. Let's listen to it.

[Anchor]
The positions of the ruling and opposition parties are sharply divided. In the end, Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol will attend at 7 p.m. I'm going to ask a government question. However, the positions of the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties are so different. Who's right?

[Kim Jaewon]
That happens all the time in the National Assembly. The problem that we criticized a lot even during the opposition party days is that the minister does not keep his position. Why aren't you attending the interpellation session? Or ran away at the moment I'm asking the interpellation question now. This happened a lot. Usually, the attendance status of the State Council members is marked every day. And like this situation just now, there are quite a few cases where the members of the State Council, especially the ministers of each department, cannot attend the international conference or even the members of the State Council, and the vice ministers attend on behalf of them. It's something that's always there. Looking at it earlier, I'm not talking about Chun Doo-hwan, but there were a lot of times during the Moon Jae In administration and a lot during the Roh Moo Hyun administration. And again this time, isn't it that the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties stamped their seal of course? If you tell me to come out without stamping my seal, I have to come out again. And the floor leader confirmed it, and the speaker of the National Assembly usually signs these documents. It might be released.

[Anchor]
Floor leader Choo Kyung-ho expressed his position that he was absent after hearing permission from both parties and the National Assembly speaker. Didn't Park Chan-dae, the floor leader, know that?

[nervous]
It would've been like this. You should probably investigate, but there must have been a time difference anyway, whether the meeting was scheduled and the National Assembly was scheduled for a government question. Then, usually, if something like this comes, I just take a picture of it. Looking at it like this, especially today is a foreign and security interpellation session, but both the foreign and defense ministers are missing, and the vice ministers will come and do this?

[Anchor]
Even the speaker of the National Assembly shouldn't stamp it.

[nervous]
So, there are documents because there is a mistake, but now that I see it, it's politically zero, so I'm making a problem. We're supposed to do it at 7 o'clock, so there's no solution now. There must be a way like this. Send in the vice minister
and ask the government questions. How to meet and attend the interpellation session by changing ministers and by time difference. There must have been a way to save the graves of these various operations. Given the atmosphere of the ruling and opposition parties, there is no concession.

[Anchor]
I've watched the ruling and opposition parties clash over pending diplomatic and defense issues, the absence of the two ministers, and their absence. Yesterday, there was a field of interpellation politics. Rep. Park Ji-won of the Democratic Party also drew attention from Prime Minister Han Deok-soo's comic stories. Let's listen to it for a bit.

[Anchor]
In the beginning, there were highly tense questions and answers. As we went into the second half, we even heard a conversation that was a bit like a comic book. How did you like it?

[nervous]
Of course, there are many people who enjoy these interpellation questions. It is said that it was fun even among the people. It does not fit the original purpose of the interpellation question. It's not right to do this. Of course, it's good to use humor and settiers. But I think this is out of line. I don't want you to do this anymore.

[Anchor]
Rep. Park Ji-won's suggestion to President Yoon to take me home is...

[Kim Jae-won]
Didn't you say something that wouldn't even work with the sign language? And in fact, I wondered why Park Ji-won, the former head of the National Intelligence Service, said that.

[Anchor]
Why do you think you did it?

[Kim Jaewon]
That's why you said that all the people who assist the president are unqualified. Still, wasn't it about making the interpellation question a comedy and making it too light? And it's not good for the prime minister to take it comically if Rep. Park Ji-won says that. You should have just said that you are unqualified.

[Anchor]
Let's stop here. It's a solemn seat for the interpellation session. It's a place to ask a member of the State Council on behalf of the people. Please show us the next keyword. The next keyword is headwind. Former President Moon Jae In also strongly criticized Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party yesterday. The Democratic Party of Korea launched an offensive over the Special Prosecutor's Law for Kim Gun-hee. However, Rep. Park Ji-won said that if former President Moon was summoned, there would be a backlash. Let's listen to the voices of the ruling and opposition parties.

[Anchor]
On the first day of the interpellation session yesterday, the confrontation between the ruling and opposition parties was fierce due to the investigation into allegations of Kim's luxury bag and the preferential hiring of former President Moon's ex-wife. Rep. Shin Kyung-min, you know Lee Sang-jik, right? I know

[nervous]
I was also in the National Assembly, and I have some relationships.

[Anchor]
In 2018, he became the chairman of the board of directors of Jungjin Corporation. And I won a nomination in 2020 and became a member of the National Assembly.

[nervous]
I don't get a nomination before that. So, he goes back to his company and participates in the presidential campaign as the presidential election takes place.

[Anchor]
You didn't get a nomination in 2016, then?

[nervous]
Then I went to Eastar Jet and joined the Moon Jae In camp in 2017, and then I was nominated for the first Minister of SMEs and Startups, but I can't do it there. After it didn't work, he went back to the company, and in the early 18th, he became chairman of the board of directors of Jungjin Corporation, and in the summer of that year, his son-in-law went to Eastar Jet, Thailand. In terms of the order of work, this scenario that the prosecution is working on now seems plausible. But if that's the case, Rep. Park is talking about it to the extent that he can't be the chairman of the board of directors of Jungjin Industrial Complex. Are you a completely unqualified person? I'm afraid not. Since he was a member of the National Assembly once and created the myth of a celery man called Eastar Jet, he has such a career to become a chairman of the board of directors or a candidate for the Minister of SMEs and Startups.

[Anchor]
Looking at it, he said he hired a son-in-law who had no qualifications.

[nervous]
However, since the son-in-law issue was the president at the time, I understand that there were many difficulties with the son-in-law and daughter issue as president of Moon Jae In. But President Moon Jae In is not the one who has the guts to say, "Please take good care of my son-in-law." Even if President Moon wants to talk about that, he can't. This means that as I explained quickly, it must have been because I took office as chairman in March and my son-in-law went out in July. Instead of saying that the prosecution keeps doing this through various people, I've been doing this for months now, saying that I have to solemnly prove it with evidence, investigate it, and prosecute it.

[Anchor]
Rep. Kwon Sung-dong yesterday, the National Assembly referred to it as Kangaroo Gate, and you are well aware of this issue, right?

[Kim Jaewon]
I've been insisting for about two years that we should investigate former President Moon Jae In for bribery.

[Anchor]
Do you have any evidence? There is no evidence that former President Moon intervened in his son-in-law's employment.

[Kim Jaewon]
The most important evidence of this situation is if President Moon Jae In confesses. But there's no possibility of that. It is not confirmed what statement former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik made. And it's possible that a lot of people made statements along the way. Though we don't know. There could be a son-in-law who actually got a job. There could also be company officials. So, if you simply say that there is no evidence right now, how can you investigate the former president like this without such evidence? As a former special prosecutor who I have also investigated, I would not have come to this stage unless there was at least solid evidence.

[Anchor]
There was a witness examination at the court yesterday. Looking at it, there was a former Blue House administrator Shin, who was pointed out as a key figure. Mr. Shin refused to testify.

[Kim Jaewon]
Now, most witnesses, witnesses, and these people are refusing to testify or exercising their right to remain silent. Even representative Cho Kuk went to make a statement as a reference and exercised his right to remain silent. Strangely, Lee Sang-jik said he exercised his right to silence after being investigated, but he also announced that Lee Sang-jik was a little unfit to be appointed as the chairman of the Small and Medium Business Corporation at the time. I can be angry later if Representative Cho Kuk does not confess in advance after seeing various evidence related to the work he carried out when he was senior presidential secretary for civil affairs. Wouldn't he have made a spokesperson and talked about it in that position? But if you look at it, you can guess that the prosecution is investigating with considerable evidence.

[Anchor]
But Rep. Park Ji-won said, "If I were former President Moon, I would refuse to summon the prosecution."

[nervous]
You talked about the evidence, but the evidence is what the prosecution has been explaining so far. Of course, I don't know if the prosecution is hiding it. But there is no such thing. The question of whether Lee Sang-jik was a person who could be used as the chairman of the board of directors of the Korea Central Industrial Complex at that time was because Lee Sang-jik had a history of stock price manipulation while doing a company. So, because of this problem, it was not possible to be verified by the Blue House as the Minister of SMEs and Startups. And this became a problem even after going into the nomination screening. So this is not a secret. But then, after the chairman of the board of directors of the Central Industrial Complex, he won the nomination. So, if you look at everything with your psychosis and arrange the time, this and that will be what happened. I'm doing it. However, I think it is almost impossible for the prosecution to prove this because everyone involved in personnel management is not opening their mouths or explaining that this was done through normal procedures. If you take this into account, it doesn't mean that you exchanged your son-in-law for getting a job and going to the chairman of the board of directors of Jungjin Industrial Complex. It's almost impossible to prove this. Disgrace this near impossible by spilling it to the media is doing something the prosecution should not do.

[Kim Jaewon]
As Representative Shin Kyung-min said, in fact, there is a possibility if viewed through some time series analysis. You can't investigate with just this. I can't prove the allegations in that way. And the other thing is, if you put such evidence on the contrary and question it, the representative of the country, the Blue House staff at the time, and many people will go and scold the investigation team. Why are you talking nonsense? This and this, you guys argue, but you might be wondering what the rationale is. Why does everyone exercise the right to remain silent? That's a question for me, too. But wouldn't the prosecution probably exercise the right to remain silent and investigate with the expectation that no one will make a statement? So, as I have argued all along, there is enough investigation going on to prove former President Moon Jae In's allegations, so I will not attend and refuse to attend. Even if that happens, you will have to go to trial without much difficulty and undergo legal evaluation, I think.

[Anchor]
It's almost time. Let me ask you one more question. In the case of the Democratic Party, the subcommittee of the Kim Special Prosecutor Act was dealt with, right?

[nervous]
Since it has been so-called, the last day of the plenary session is Thursday. So, if you pass the Judiciary Committee the day after tomorrow and put it on the plenary session, it will pass. So, I think it's an appropriate strategy for now to pass this before Chuseok, and of course, after Chuseok, we'll veto it, but we still think it's an appropriate strategy to pass this before Chuseok.

[Kim Jaewon]
Let's put Kim Gun-hee on the so-called Chuseok table again to steal, which is the political aim of the Democratic Party. And I think it's a cowardly strategy to somehow crash the president's prestige through him. Doing so while fully thinking that the law will not pass, I feel like politics is getting into the trash.

[Anchor]
That's all for today's political issues. So far, I have been with Kim Jae-won, the supreme council member of the People's Power, and Shin Kyung-min, a former lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea. Thank you very much. Thank you.