Joo Jin-woo Moves Behind Him and “Snaps” a Photo of His Notes... Kim Seung-won Aide Faces “Surveillance” Allegations

[Financial News] Joo Jin-woo, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, protested on the 15th that an aide to Kim Seung-won, the nominee for minister of justice, had surveilled him during Kim’s confirmation hearing. Kim’s side apologized, saying the aide had made a mistake.

Joo posted a message on his social media that day titled “Are They Even Conducting Surveillance to Cancel Lee Jae Myung’s Indictment?” He claimed, “Kim Seung-won’s aide peeped at and spied on the questions I was preparing behind me as a confirmation-hearing committee member, and eventually even secretly photographed them.”
He then criticized the situation, saying, “Kim Seung-won is not a member of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. How can his aide move freely among opposition lawmakers serving on the confirmation-hearing committee?” He added, “The scene was captured by the media. I am releasing an irrefutable video,” and posted a video from a media outlet.
The video showed the day’s hearing. It captured a woman holding a camera as she filmed Kim Seung-won and repeatedly glanced at Joo as he wrote notes on documents. When Joo handed his notes to an aide and explained them, the woman also photographed them with her camera.
During the hearing, Joo told Seo Young-kyo, chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, “I am raising this issue because she is the nominee’s aide,” and demanded, “You should warn the nominee and express your regret.” Park Hyung-soo, the People Power Party’s floor leader on the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, also said, “I understand that the video even captured someone believed to be Kim Seung-won’s aide appearing to photograph Joo’s notes and other materials,” calling it “something that must not happen.”
Joo also warned on social media, “How untruthful before the public must the nominee for minister of justice be to insult the National Assembly by surveilling an opposition lawmaker?” He added, “I will take strong legal action. Secret photography and surveillance are serious crimes.”

Kim Seung-won’s office issued a statement that same day, saying, “We sincerely apologize to Representative Joo Jin-woo for causing concern through the inappropriate incident that occurred during today’s confirmation hearing.”
The office explained, “The aide is a young employee in their 20s with limited experience. The employee took the photograph after making an inexperienced judgment during the hearing and deleted it immediately upon recognizing the mistake.” It added, “Regardless of the reason, we acknowledge that the conduct was inappropriate.”
However, the office stressed, “We clearly state that neither the nominee nor anyone else instructed or participated in taking the photograph.” It added, “We will take strict disciplinary action against the aide and exercise particular care to ensure that nothing like this happens again.”
It also asked, “We request that you refrain from indiscriminately circulating the personal information and photographs of the employee, who is at the beginning of their career.”
[email protected] Kim Hee-sun Reporter