DP slams deputy prime minister in hearing

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok was slammed on Wednesday for reversing his testimony about whether he had changed his mobile phone after former President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law in December.

During a hearing at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee held to debate a motion to impeach Choi, he denied that he had changed his phone since martial law was imposed on Dec. 3, 2024, and lifted the next morning.

Choi was responding to a question from Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Yong-min, who suspected that Choi was one of the officials of the Yoon administration who had allegedly attempted to destroy evidence by getting a new phone.

Shortly after Choi's denial, Rep. Jung Chung-rae of the Democratic Party, who chaired the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, revealed records that suggested Choi had changed his phone on Dec. 7 last year.

When Jung asked Choi if the documentation was wrong, Choi said, "It is true I changed my phone because (the previous) one was broken."

Choi added that he kept the previous phone with him, saying he had no intention of tampering with evidence when changing his phone.

He added he at first denied having changed phones because he could not remember the date when he did so. Amid criticisms from lawmakers at the committee that he was committing perjury, Choi apologized and withdrew his earlier statement at the hearing.

The hearing took place after the motion to impeach Choi was tabled at the Democratic Party-controlled National Assembly on April 2, but it had not been put to a vote since the Constitutional Court upheld Yoon's impeachment on April 4.

The motion against Choi cited his failure to appoint parliament-nominated Constitutional Court Justice Ma Eun-hyuk at a time when Choi briefly served as acting president after both Yoon and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo were impeached.

Amid liberal party lawmakers' claim that Choi was violating his duty and caused the court's deliberation on Yoon impeachment to extend longer than expected, Choi said he had no other choice because his predecessor called for a renewed bipartisan compromise over the parliament's decision to nominate Ma.

Choi was also accused of having abetted Yoon's imposition of martial law.

The finance minister was earlier revealed to have received a brief note containing instructions from Yoon immediately before martial law took effect. When asked about what was written in the note, Choi said he "could not read the instruction in the folded note." He also said he "was not interested in the material I received because it was a surreal situation."

Regarding controversy over his personal investments in US government bonds in August last year, Choi said his decision had been "based on advice" from his financial adviser.

A recent mandatory disclosure suggested that Choi was holding US bonds worth nearly 200 million won ($140,000), which became more valuable with the Korean currency weakening against the dollar amid political turmoil that Choi dealt with as acting president. Choi said his investment decision "had nothing to do with the (recent) currency exchange rate fluctuation," adding he was "not careful enough."

Choi is poised to hold talks with his US counterpart, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, over Washington's possible imposition of higher tariffs against South Korean goods. When asked by Democratic Party Rep. Park Jie-won about whether there could be a chance of South Korean firms being forced into a US liquefied natural gas development project regardless of the profitability, Choi said such a thing "will not happen."