In a social media post on Tuesday, Hong said, "Every administration has had a 'reign of women' that made life hard for it — Choi Soon-sil under the Park Geun-hye government, Kim Keon-hee under the Yoon Suk Yeol government, and now Secretary Kim Hyun-ji." He added, "Regardless of the truth, once you are marked by public sentiment, you must realize that whatever you do, it's all over." He stressed, "Before public sentiment worsens further, the Lee Jae-myung administration should also cut ties with Secretary Kim Hyun-ji."
The People Power Party and other opposition parties have taken direct aim at Kim, arguing that in the wake of the successive withdrawals of Yong Hye-in as gender equality and family minister nominee and Kim Seung-won as justice minister nominee, the so-called "Gyeong-seong line" — Lee's closest aides from Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, including Kim Hyun-ji and former Democratic Party leader's political coordination office chief Jeong Jin-sang — is exerting influence over presidential office appointments.
The ruling bloc dismissed the allegations of a "power behind the throne" and "interference in appointments" as "nothing more than nitpicking for the sake of attack."
