Controversies jeopardize confirmation prospects for Lee's Cabinet nominees

Controversies are putting two of President Lee Jae Myung’s Cabinet nominees under pressure in Seoul ahead of confirmation hearings. Kim Seung-won faces renewed scrutiny over alleged help for a COVID-19 drug trial approval, while Yong Hye-in is criticized for wanting to keep her Assembly seat. The disputes are also adding to concerns about Lee’s falling approval ratings.

Kim Seung-won is a two-term ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and former judge nominated as justice minister to handle follow-up reforms taking effect on Oct. 2.

Prosecutors suspended indictment in December 2024 after confirming Kim contacted the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety chief but failing to establish whether he received bribes.

Yong Hye-in is facing criticism for intending to serve as gender equality and family minister while retaining her proportional representation seat in the National Assembly.

Yong has about 124 million won in salary from the Basic Income Party over the past five years through her husband’s senior position in the party.

In a Gallup Korea poll released Friday, 51 percent of 1,001 adults disapproved of Lee’s performance, up from 45 percent a week earlier, and 9 percent cited personnel nomination issues.

Published Sep 6, 2026 4:20 pm KST

Updated Sep 6, 2026 4:43 pm KST

Embattled ministerial picks erode president's bid to regain political momentum

Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won, left, and Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in / Yonhap

Two minister nominees are facing mounting questions over whether they can survive their confirmation hearings, as a series of controversies and corruption allegations have drawn growing public criticism.

If even one of them fails to pass the hearing or steps down from the nomination, it will deal a blow to President Lee Jae Myung, who hoped the Cabinet reshuffle would help him regain momentum for his policies amid falling approval ratings.

Lee nominated Kim Seung-won, a two-term lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and a former judge, as his next justice minister, to oversee follow-up measures for reforms related to the prosecution and new criminal justice system, which are set to take effect Oct. 2.

Kim, however, has come under intensifying scrutiny over allegations that he improperly used his influence as a lawmaker in October 2021 to help a pharmaceutical company obtain approval for a COVID-19 drug trial.

He allegedly received a request from a broker with ties to Genencell to help speed up the approval process, after which he contacted the head of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety about the company's application.

The clinical trial was approved about two weeks later, roughly half the usual approval period for COVID-19 drug trials at the time.

Prosecutors investigated Kim over the matter, but in December 2024 they decided to suspend indictment after confirming Kim's contact with the ministry chief but failing to establish if he received any bribes in return.

Kim has maintained that he did nothing illegal, saying he merely relayed a legitimate public complaint and did not ask regulators to give the company preferential treatment.

That defense, however, is facing fresh scrutiny after newly disclosed recordings and messages raised questions about his relationship with the broker and the nature of her requests on behalf of the company.

Questions have also grown because Genencell was later found to have submitted fabricated experiment results during the approval process. Its founder was convicted over the misconduct, although there is no evidence that Kim knew about the falsified material.

“The situation has put Kim in an awkward position, as he seeks to become the minister responsible for follow-up work on prosecution reform while facing calls from the public for prosecutors to unsuspend his indictment in light of newly disclosed evidence,” said Jung Jae-hwan, a political science professor at Inha University.

Conservative civic groups have filed new criminal complaints against him, and the previous decision to suspend his indictment could be revisited if significant new evidence is uncovered.

“Any renewed investigation into Kim could raise questions over his credibility in overseeing criminal justice reform aimed at strengthening the fairness and accountability of investigations and prosecutions,” Jung said.

Gender Equality and Family Minister nominee Yong Hye-in, meanwhile, is facing criticism over her intention to serve as minister while retaining her proportional representation seat in the National Assembly.

Although lawmakers are legally permitted to serve concurrently as Cabinet ministers, proportional representation lawmakers have customarily given up their seats upon joining the Cabinet because their seats can be immediately filled by the next candidate on their party list. However, the Basic Income Party has no one else on the list, meaning that giving up her seat would leave the minor progressive party with no representation in the National Assembly.

She herself asked the public to understand the situation facing minor parties, arguing that retaining her seat would allow the party to continue receiving government subsidies.

However, the public has shown little sympathy to this argument, as Yong herself called for abolishing state subsidies for political parties six years ago, taking aim at parties relying on such funding.

She was also critical of a previous Cabinet member for "clinging" to her position. During a 2022 parliamentary audit, she criticized then-Gender Equality Minister Kim Hyun-sook who appeared reluctant to give up her post if the ministry was abolished, saying it was “pitiful” to see her cling to the position.

In addition, questions have been raised over a conflict of interest, as Yong's husband holds a senior position in the Basic Income Party and has received about 124 million won ($91,880) in salary from the party over the past five years.

“Unlike with Kim's case, signs have emerged that the DPK is increasingly reluctant to publicly defend Yong, with some DPK lawmakers suggesting that it may be time for her to make her own decision on whether to remain a nominee,” Jung said.

The controversies seem to be affecting President Lee, whose approval ratings have continued to decline for weeks, repeatedly hitting new lows since he took office in June 2025.

In a weekly Gallup Korea poll released on Friday, 51 percent of 1,001 adults said they disapprove of Lee's performance, up from 45 percent a week before. Among them, 9 percent cited personnel nomination issues as the reason, up sharply from 1 percent.

The survey was conducted Sept. 1 to 3 through telephone interviews using randomly selected mobile phone numbers. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level and a response rate of 10.9 percent. Visit the website of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission for more details.

在即将举行确认听证会之际，李在明总统的两名内阁提名人选因争议而面临压力。金承元因涉嫌协助批准新冠病毒药物试验而再次受到审查，而李镕惠仁则因希望保住国会议员席位而受到批评。这些争议也加剧了人们对李在明支持率下滑的担忧。

金承元是韩国执政党共同民主党的两届议员，也是前法官，被提名为法务部长官，负责处理将于10月2日生效的后续改革。

2024 年 12 月，检方在确认金某曾与食品药品安全部部长联系后，但未能确定他是否收受贿赂，因此暂停了起诉。

杨惠仁因打算在保留其在国民议会比例代表席位的同时担任性别平等和家庭部长而受到批评。

过去五年，Yong通过其丈夫在全民基本收入党的高级职务，从该党获得了约1.24亿韩元的薪水。

盖洛普韩国周五公布的一项民意调查显示，在 1001 名成年人中，51% 的人不认可李光耀的表现，高于一周前的 45%，其中 9% 的人提到了人事提名问题。

发布于2026年9月6日下午4:20（韩国标准时间）

更新于2026年9月6日下午4:43（韩国标准时间）

陷入困境的部长人选削弱了总统重获政治动力的努力。

法务部长官提名人金承元（左）和性别平等及家庭部长官提名人龙慧仁 / 韩联社

两名部长提名人选能否通过确认听证会，正面临越来越多的质疑，因为一系列争议和腐败指控引发了越来越多的公众批评。

如果他们中哪怕只有一人未能通过听证会或放弃提名，都将对李在明总统造成打击，他原本希望通过内阁改组来帮助他在支持率下滑的情况下重振其政策势头。

李明博提名执政党共同民主党（DPK）的两届国会议员、前法官金承元担任下一任法务部长，负责监督与检察机关和新的刑事司法系统相关的改革的后续措施，这些改革将于10月2日生效。

然而，金正恩因被指控在 2021 年 10 月不当利用其作为立法者的影响力，帮助一家制药公司获得 COVID-19 药物试验的批准而受到越来越严格的审查。

据称，他收到一位与 Genencell 有联系的经纪人的请求，希望他能帮助加快审批流程，之后他联系了食品药品安全部负责人，询问该公司的申请情况。

临床试验大约两周后获得批准，这大约是当时新冠肺炎药物试验通常审批时间的一半。

检察官就此事对金某进行了调查，但在 2024 年 12 月，他们确认金某与该部部长有联系，但未能确定他是否收受了任何贿赂，因此决定暂停起诉。

金正恩一直坚称自己没有做任何违法的事情，他说自己只是转达了公众的合理投诉，并没有要求监管机构给予公司特殊待遇。

然而，在最新披露的录音和信息引发了人们对他与经纪人的关系以及她代表公司提出的要求的性质的质疑之后，这种辩护正面临新的审查。

此外，由于Genencell后来被发现在审批过程中提交了伪造的实验结果，引发了更多质疑。其创始人因不当行为被定罪，尽管没有证据表明金知晓这些伪造材料。

“这种情况让金某处境尴尬，他一方面寻求担任检察改革后续工作的部长，另一方面又面临公众要求检察官根据新披露的证据撤销对其起诉的呼声，”仁荷大学政治学教授郑在焕表示。

保守派公民团体已对他提起新的刑事诉讼，如果发现重大新证据，之前暂停对他提起诉讼的决定可能会被重新考虑。

郑表示：“任何对金某的重新调查都可能引发人们对他监督刑事司法改革的信誉的质疑，而这项改革旨在加强调查和起诉的公平性和问责制。”

与此同时，性别平等与家庭部长提名人选杨惠仁因打算在保留其在国民议会比例代表席位的同时担任部长一职而受到批评。

尽管法律允许议员兼任内阁部长，但按比例代表制选举产生的议员通常会在加入内阁后放弃议员席位，因为他们的席位可以立即由本党名单上的下一位候选人填补。然而，基本收入党名单上没有其他候选人，这意味着如果她放弃席位，这个人数较少的进步党在国民议会中将失去代表权。

她本人也请求公众理解小党派面临的处境，并辩称如果她保住席位，该党就能继续获得政府补贴。

然而，公众对这种说法并没有表现出多少同情，因为杨女士本人早在六年前就呼吁取消国家对政党的补贴，矛头直指那些依赖此类资金的政党。

她还批评一位前内阁成员“恋栈不去”。在2022年的一次国会审计中，她批评了时任性别平等部长官金贤淑，认为如果该部门被撤销，金贤淑似乎不愿放弃职位，她称看到金贤淑如此恋栈不去“令人惋惜”。

此外，还有人质疑是否存在利益冲突，因为永的丈夫在全民基本收入党担任要职，并在过去五年中从该党领取了约 1.24 亿韩元（91,880 美元）的薪水。

郑表示：“与金正恩的情况不同，有迹象表明，民主党越来越不愿意公开为容金正恩辩护，一些民主党议员甚至暗示，容金正恩或许应该自己决定是否继续担任提名人。”

这些争议似乎影响到了李显龙总统，他的支持率已经连续数周下降，自2025年6月上任以来屡创新低。

盖洛普韩国周五公布的每周民调显示，在接受调查的1001名成年人中，51%的人表示不认可李明博的表现，高于一周前的45%。其中，9%的人将不认可的原因归咎于人事任命问题，这一比例较前一周的1%大幅上升。

本次调查于9月1日至3日进行，采用随机抽取的手机号码进行电话访谈。在95%的置信水平下，误差幅度为正负3.1个百分点，回复率为10.9%。更多详情请访问全国选举调查审议委员会网站。