Kim Seung-won Controversy Suwon City Creates 'Defense Logic'
Suwon City, identified as a key point in allegations of preferential treatment for Justice Minister nominee Kim Seung-won's family, has been confirmed to have created internal response documents asserting "no preferential treatment."
According to Suwon City and other sources, the city recently prepared an internal document titled "Press Conference Fact-Check" and shared it with Mayor Lee Jae-joon and related officials.
This followed allegations raised on the 6th by National Assembly member Ju Jin-woo (People Power Party, Haeundae-gap, Busan) regarding preferential treatment concerning the designation as a provider of developmental disability activity services, voucher support, and family hiring at the Korea Child Development Social Cooperative, where Kim's spouse serves as facility director.
The document reportedly contains an overall assessment stating "the institution was normally designated through open recruitment and external expert review, and there are no facts of preferential treatment provided by Suwon City," along with point-by-point fact-checks by issue.
Regarding the designation process, it emphasized that it proceeded through normal procedures rather than preferential designation. According to the document, the cooperative relocated to Suwon in January 2022, participated in open recruitment in February of that year, and was designated as a service provider in March following review by a committee comprised of external experts.
Regarding family hiring, it stated: "There are no separate restrictions on family hiring when recruitment is conducted to meet personnel placement and staffing standards. The salary payments to family members are also considered matters of the institution's personnel and operations.
Regarding the scale of voucher support, the document reportedly countered claims by the National Assembly member based on factual grounds.
While the National Assembly member's side claimed the cooperative received 878.77 million won from 2022 to 2025, Suwon City determined the actual voucher payment amount to be 632.31 million won: 178.92 million won for daytime activity services and 453.39 million won for after-school activity services. The document reportedly noted discrepancies between the annual support amounts presented by the National Assembly member's side and those identified by the city.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Welfare launched an investigation into the operational status of the cooperative on that day. The ministry is examining related materials including annual revenue and the status of disabled beneficiaries and employees by year, and is understood to have requested material submission from Suwon City.
With Suwon City drawing a line by stating "there are no facts of preferential treatment" and launching full-scale preparations, combined with the central government's initiation of fact-checking, controversy surrounding the cooperative's designation as a service provider and its operations is expected to continue.
A Suwon City official stated, "It is material that organizes factual information after allegations were raised," and "We understand it was created in the process of grasping accurate facts."