Moon Jin-seok (left), the Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Kim Nam-guk, the Presidential Secretary for Digital Communication. Yonhap News

The People Power Party criticized the resignation of Kim Nam-guk, the Presidential Secretary for Digital Communication, on the 4th, who was embroiled in a controversy over personnel recommendations through text messages exchanged with Moon Jin-seok, the Floor Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, calling it "cutting off the tail."

The People Power Party suspects that this controversy goes beyond inappropriate speech and actions, showing a glimpse of the "abuse of power" by influential figures in the Presidential Office. They intend to exhaust all means, including parliamentary investigations, to clarify the suspicions and even file complaints against those involved.

In a commentary that day, Floor Spokesperson Choi Eun-seok stated, "The 'Kim Nam-guk resignation' card released by the Presidential Office is a typical move to cut off the tail and appease public anger. The reality of state affairs abuse and personnel manipulation remains intact within the core of the Presidential Office."

He continued, "At the core of this structure is Chief of Staff for the First Office of the President Kim Hyun-ji. Kim should immediately step down from her position, taking responsibility for this situation. As long as Kim Hyun-ji, the mastermind behind the privatization of state affairs, remains, this situation will only be a harbinger of further state affairs manipulation."

Senior Spokesperson Choi Bo-yoon also commented, "This matter is a clear case of power-based personnel manipulation. The Lee Jae-myung administration has emphasized fairness and transparency with its citizen recommendation system, but the reality has been revealed to be a 'clique recommendation system' by a clandestine network known as 'Hoon-sik's brother and Hyun-ji's sister.'"

He announced, "We will mobilize all our powers, including parliamentary hearings, investigations, and special prosecutors, to thoroughly investigate the entire scope of personnel manipulation to the end." The party also announced its intention to file complaints against four individuals, including Moon Jin-seok, Kim Nam-guk, Kim Hyun-ji, and Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, on charges of abuse of power and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.

Rep. Kim Jae-seop wrote on Facebook, "Kim Hyun-ji is the mastermind behind the personnel manipulation, so why is Kim Nam-guk expressing resignation and Moon Jin-seok apologizing? If there is still no proper personnel action against Kim Hyun-ji, it would be tantamount to the Democratic Party itself admitting to the 'absolute dignity of Kim Hyun-ji.'"

Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the New Reform Party, said in an interview on KBS Radio's "Jeon-gyeok Sisa," "The Park Geun-hye administration collapsed due to Choi Soon-sil, and the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is collapsing due to First Lady Kim Keon-hee; both were due to unchecked power. If Chief of Staff Kim exercises power in this manner, the outcome will not be different."

Previously, Floor Leader Moon Jin-seok was captured by media cameras during a plenary session at the National Assembly on the 2nd, asking Secretary Kim Nam-guk via mobile messenger to recommend a specific individual for the presidency of the Korea Automobile Industry Association. Kim's reply, "I will recommend them to Hoon-sik's brother and Hyun-ji's sister," was also captured.

This was interpreted as Kim conveying the personnel request to Chief of Staff Kang and Chief of Staff Kim, sparking controversy.

Secretary Kim submitted his resignation to the Presidential Office on the same day, and it was accepted. Floor Leader Moon Jin-seok apologized through a Facebook post, stating, "I have nothing to say, even with ten mouths."