Kim Yong-hyun, the candidate for Minister of National Defense, responded to questions during a personnel hearing held at the National Assembly on the 2nd. They argued, “It is a false agitation. The hearing is a listening session, not a place for false agitation.”
Kim Yong-hyun, the candidate for Minister of National Defense, created a commotion by immediately refuting the opposition party members’ first query as “false agitation” at the National Assembly personnel hearing on the 2nd. Kim, who is currently the head of the presidential security service and a key associate of President Yoon Seok-yeol, faced criticism from Park Sun-won, a representative of the ruling Democratic Party.
During the personnel hearing of Kim Yong-hyun held by the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly on this day, Park, a member of the ruling party, was the first questioner. Park pointed out to Kim, who led the move of the presidential office from Yongsan, saying, “Currently, in Yongsan, the presidential office, defense minister, and joint chiefs of staff work facilities are all together. Nuclear weapons are not necessary. With a few ballistic missiles from North Korea, it can be completely destroyed. You moved from the presidential office, a paradise for maximizing the survival of the president, to vulnerable Yongsan exposed to attacks from North Korea. The head of the security service who threatens the survival of the president himself is not qualified to be the Minister of National Defense.”
Park further criticized the recent military personnel appointments as a shift from the former Chungam faction to the Yonghyun faction, claiming that there had been interventions in military appointments favoring the Chungam faction.
Kim responded to Park’s accusations by saying, “I cannot agree. You are making provocative statements with mostly inaccurate claims. This is not a place for agitation but a personnel hearing, a place to listen, not for false agitation.”
During the hearing, Park raised suspicions about recent visits by military officers to the presidential security offices in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and questioned their purpose. He asked, “Did they not leave a record of their visits intentionally, calling the security service staff at the entrance for guidance? What conversations took place? Did they discuss martial law?”
Despite objections from opposition lawmakers, Kim remained unfazed and emphasized that the purpose of the hearing was for listening and not for spreading false information. Kim also defended the decision to move the presidential office, citing it as a promise fulfilled to the people by President Yoon Seok-yeol to return the office to the people.
Park previously raised suspicions of violations of the Public Official Ethics Act by Kim for not reporting employment after joining a law firm, as well as allegations of property acquisition such as tuition fees for two children’s 17 years of studying abroad and the purchase of two apartments in Seoul. Park demanded related documents and explanations, particularly regarding the purchase of an apartment with 550 million won from Kim’s daughter, expressing disbelief at the situation where a child sold an apartment to their parent.