A runaway aide and a lenient boss
Published: 21 May. 2023, 20:12
The author is a communications team reporter of the JoongAng Holdings.
Independent lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk was a prominent figure in the Democratic Party’s (DP) presidential race in 2021. A young man sat down in front of the video transmission equipment early on and checked the facilities and sound one by one. So I wondered which camp he was working for. It turned out that it was Kim, head of the attendants for the Lee Jae-myung camp at the time.
When I asked people around me, “Why is an incumbent lawmaker working so hard?” I was told that Rep. Kim is the lawmaker whom Lee “feels the most comfortable entrusting with tasks.” Kim clicked the PowerPoint video one by one for the candidate’ speech.
Under Lee Jae-myung’s leadership established the following year, Kim became one of the mainstream of the liberal party. Born in 1982, the first-term lawmaker was recruited as the third secretary-general dealing with the future affairs of the party — one of the key posts of the DP — in September 2022.
When there were rumors that the seven members close to Lee from the beginning became distant from him, Kim remained loyal. The lawmaker whom his supporters called “a devout brother” took the lead in quieting the rumors about the dissolution of the Lee Jae-myung faction last year. “Once the seven members close to Lee decided to have a sudden get-together, many of us came and enjoyed lots of delicious food,” Kim said.
Kim has recently dealt a critical blow to the leader of the DP with massive investments in cryptocurrency. A public outrage erupted after circumstantial evidence suggested Kim traded cryptocurrencies even during a standing committee meeting to make money despite his diligent and naive image.
As he gave inconsistent explanations about his suspicious possession and trading of digital coins, office workers who directly and indirectly experienced the cryptocurrency boom have started to portray Kim as “a cryptocurrency genius in a fool’s mask.” Some DP members are worried about a re-enactment of the Cho Kuk crisis, as Lee is accused of being different inside and outside.
It seems natural that the DP head is being attacked for not cutting ties with Kim in a timely manner. Even some members of Lee’s faction criticized the party leader. Choi Jae-sung, a former DP lawmaker and former presidential aide for political affairs, slammed Lee for dealing with Kim too softly from the start. Rep. Cho Eung-cheon, another DP lawmaker, stressed the need for the party chair to “punish him outright.”
As head of the attendance team for then presidential candidate Lee, Rep. Kim appeared on Kim O-jun’s news show, a major podcast for DP supporters, and said, “Lee had never gotten angry or frustrated at me throughout the campaign.” The opposition leader who does not get mad at his staff is making the public angry.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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