People Power questions appointment of Saemangeum Development Agency chief... ”We have deep doubts about President Lee's national philosophy” = South Korea

On the 20th, the main opposition party in South Korea, the People Power Party, announced that President Lee Jae Myung had appointed Kim Eui Kyeom, a former member of the Democratic Party of Korea, as head of the Saemangeum Development Agency.
"This decision is not just a retribution decision, but also raises serious questions about the direction of this administration and its philosophy on statecraft," the party's spokesman Ham In-kyung said in a commentary on the same day.
He pointed out that during the Moon Jae-in administration, he resigned as spokesperson for the Blue House due to allegations of real estate speculation. "At that time, I invested all my assets and borrowed more than 1.6 billion won to reopen Heukseok-dong.
"He bought a property in the area, and just one day later it was revealed that his younger brother had also bought a property in the same area, sparking national outrage."
Ham said, "Kim's qualifications as a public official are also questionable. He has committed numerous false and lies in the past.
"They kept repeating distorted claims with an attitude of 'If it hits the mark, that's fine, if it doesn't, that's it.' Even when it turned out that they weren't true, far from apologizing or reflecting on the situation, they were busy trying to avoid responsibility," he said.
He added, "It is serious that a person who is considered to lack even the minimum morality and ethics that a public official should have is in charge of Saemangeum, a key development base for the nation.
"There is an even bigger concern," he said, adding, "Considering Rep. Kim's past statement that 'The future of Saemangeum depends on China,'
"This raises reasonable suspicions that the administration's pro-China tone may be behind its decision to entrust Saemangeum to Kim Jong Un," he said.
He then said, "I would like to see what direction the Lee administration is pursuing."
"The Saemangeum development project, which was built with the sweat of the people, has fallen into a playground for the vested interests of certain groups," Ham said.
"There are growing concerns that this could lead to a major scandal," he said. "It is difficult to understand why a man at the center of a real estate speculation controversy has been put in charge of a key national development project."
The spokesman added, "By so forcibly appointing someone who was seen as a self-destructive act even within the Democratic Party, the Lee administration is ultimately trying to make Kim Eui-gyeom the 'Kim Eui-gyeom' leader.
"This means that they have brought about a 'risk' on themselves. Saemangeum is a land on which the future of Korea depends," he said.