Rep. Kim Hyeong-dong, floor secretary for the People Power Party, asked during the special committee’s comprehensive hearing that officials confirm whether Kim entered the chair’s office before 10 a.m., before proceedings began. If the witness met the chair in advance, Kim said, the testimony “could have been tainted.” Fellow PPP lawmakers Kwak Gyu-taek and Shin Dong-wook said the matter could be settled by checking CCTV footage.
Seo denied the claim, saying Kim had not entered her office and calling it “nonsense.” Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won said that when he entered Seo’s office at 9:18 a.m., no one was there except Rep. Cha Gyu-geun of the Rebuilding Korea Party. Cha also said he was the first to enter and that Park arrived a minute later.
Kim said he did not know whether the place was the chair’s office, but said he had gone somewhere to drink a cup of water from a purifier. He added that he saw Seo for the first time at the hearing.
Kim declined to answer most questions, saying he could not speak because he is on trial, but he acknowledged coercive investigations by prosecutors. On the case involving alleged remittances to North Korea, he said he is acquainted with former Gyeonggi Province peace vice governor Lee Hwa-young but “doesn’t even know” President Lee Jae-myung.
Later, PPP lawmaker Na Kyung-won pressed Kim, saying that if a future special prosecutor is appointed, prosecutors could drop charges against President Lee while also holding Kim responsible for illegal gambling. Kim replied that he is already on trial on 28 charges and said, “If there’s more to do, they’ll do it.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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