Prime Minister nominee Kim Min-seok on the 24th addressed the controversy over the fact that the income from National Assembly members' salaries is less than their expenditure, stating, "The money received as condolence money is about 160 million won, the money received from two publishing commemorative events is about 250 million won, and the money received from my in-laws is around 200 million won."
During the personnel confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 24th, Kim was asked by People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo about the source of the 600 million won income with unclear origins in the process of increasing assets, to which he responded accordingly.
He said, "It seems that the condolence money (from my father-in-law's funeral) is about 160 million won," adding, "In one of the two publishing commemorative events, about 150 million won was collected, and in the subsequent event, around 100 million won was gathered."
He continued, "During the time I was paying the additional taxes, my wife faced significant difficulties in living, and I received living expenses of about 2 million won to 3 million won from my in-laws repeatedly, which totals quite a bit," and stated, "Including the congratulatory money, it seems that I received more than 200 million won in total."
Previously, the People Power Party criticized that despite Kim's expenditure of about 1.3 billion won in additional taxes over the last five years since 2019, his income increased, stating that if you deduct the salary income of 500 million won, about 600 million won remains unaccounted for.
However, Kim emphasized that he received about half of the support from his in-laws in cash, leaving no record.
In response, Lawmaker Joo claimed, "This is the first I’m hearing about living expense support. Kim's explanation keeps changing," stating, "Initially, he clearly indicated that there was other income, but now he's talking about the publishing commemorative events and then claiming to have received 200 million won from his in-laws."
In response, Kim explained, "It's my first time at a confirmation hearing, so this is the first I’m hearing about this."
Lawmaker Joo pointed out during the confirmation hearing resumed after a break in the afternoon that Kim's explanation "is significantly out of line with the public's expectations."
He noted, "Typically, people keep a record of names and amounts when it comes to celebrations and condolences," adding that, "Publishing commemorative events have always been pointed out as a source of dubious income for lawmakers. People from interest groups or businesses might have contributed, but there’s no way to verify how much they gave." He also mentioned, "Notably, former lawmaker Noh Woong-rae also claimed to have received 300 million won in cash from a publishing commemorative event but was subsequently cut off from the Democratic Party nomination."
Regarding the explanation that Kim received about 100 million won in cash support from his in-laws, he stated, "If an ordinary citizen gives living expenses and cash to their children during inheritance, issues regarding gift tax evasion arise immediately."
In response, Kim stated, "You have raised a new issue regarding the problem of all citizens having to report congratulatory and condolence money, which exceeds the scope of a member of the National Assembly," indicating, "I believe this is a matter to be discussed separately."