'김학의 CD' 공방 가열…"황교안 오리발" vs "모략과 음해"
Tension is mounting between Korea's rival parties... over claims that the chief of the main opposition party, Hwang Kyo-ahn, was aware of the sex scandal involving a former senior official in 2013.
The ruling party is demanding that Hwang, who was justice minister at the time, tell the truth about what happened,... while the main opposition has said it will take legal action against the claims it calls groundless.
Kim Min-ji reports.
The issue centers on former vice minister of justice, Kim Hak-ui, and an alleged sex-for-business favors incident six years ago.
In her confirmation hearing on Wednesday,... SME minister nominee and four-term lawmaker... Park Young-sun... said she had shown a CD containing footage of the incident to then-Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn,... who is now the chief of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.
Park was the head of the parliament's judiciary committee at the time.
"One day, not long before Kim Hak-ui was appointed, then-Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn came to the National Assembly. I showed him the CD and told him that the content was serious and that it would be problematic to appoint Kim as the vice minister."
Kim Hak-ui is accused of not only accepting sex services as a form of bribery,... but also of rape.
It allegedly happened at a sex party hosted by a local businessman in 2013,... video of which was leaked.
Kim resigned from his post less than a week after he was appointed,.. but was cleared later the same year by prosecutors who cited a lack of evidence.
The scandal resurfaced this month,... after a victim appeared on local television and talked about what happened -- and questions are mounting as to whether there were attempts to cover up the case.
Following Park's claims about the CD,... the ruling Democratic Party said Hwang, the former justice minister and Kim's immediate superior, was lying about not knowing about the scandal.
"There are parliamentary records from June 2013 that indicate Hwang was aware. He was justice minister at the time, so it's hard to understand how he wouldn't have known. If he was not involved, he should come forward and reveal the truth about why the case was covered up."
However, the main opposition party has condemned Park for turning her confirmation hearing into a scene of intrigue and slander.
They also criticized Park for first saying that she had shown the CD to Hwang,... but then taking that back and saying she had just talked about the CD's existence.
Hwang also said they met often but that he'd never heard of the CD.
"We met a lot of times. And in that process, we talked about many things. But I can't remember every single one of them."
What's for sure is that the tit for tat is expected to intensify,... until it's established which side is telling the truth.
