SEOUL, President Yoon Suk Yeol and ruling party chief Han Dong-hoon met Tuesday at the site of a market fire, apparently seeking to repair their relationship after clashing over allegations involving the first lady and party nominations for the upcoming general elections. Yoon and Han of the People Power Party traveled separately to the central county of Seocheon to inspect a fisheries market destroyed by a fire the previous night. Their meeting came amid reports of a rift between the two over how to handle allegations that first lady Kim Keon Hee received a luxury bag as a gift in 2022 and Han's public support for a PPP emergency leadership committee member seeking to run for a parliamentary seat in a district in Seoul's Mapo Ward. Han has long been one of Yoon's closest confidants, and the public disagreement threatened to hurt the ruling party with less than three months to go until the April 10 parliamentary elections. "Upon arriving at the site of the fire in the intense cold and snow, the president received a briefing on the damage and looked around the site together with Han Dong-hoon" and other politicians and government officials waiting for him, presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung said in a written briefing. Video footage showed Yoon shaking hands with Han and tapping him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. Han bowed deeply as a courtesy and smiled. The reunion appeared to send a message of reconciliation six days after the controversy began with Han's tacit endorsement of Kim Gyeong-yul for a seat in Mapo. Yoon reportedly balked at how it appeared that Han was violating the principle of fair nominations. Kim Gyeong-yul then appeared on cable broadcaster JTBC's YouTube channel the next day and likened the first lady to Marie Antoinette while demanding an apology from her for accepting the bag. Over the next few days, Han stated his position that while the video footage of the first lady accepting the bag was a premeditated hidden camera trap, there were "aspects that the people could be w orried about" and the issue should be "thought about from the people's perspective." The controversy came to a head on Sunday when presidential chief of staff Lee Kwan-sup delivered his concern to Han about the so-called private nomination and requested he step down, but Han refused, saying his term ended after the general elections and the work of the party was separate from the work of the government. Han joined Yoon and other party and government officials on the president's train to return to Seoul from Seocheon. Kim, the spokesperson, said they traveled together in consideration of the traffic congestion caused by the heavy snow. "I have deep respect and trust in the president," Han told reporters upon arriving at Seoul Station, saying he and Yoon discussed ways to support people's livelihoods on the train. "I want to do my best even more to be chosen by the people on April 10, and follow the path to making this country and our people more prosperous." According to officials, the fire at the market b urned down 227 shops. Yoon comforted the shop owners, especially as the damage occurred shortly before the busy season of the Lunar New Year holiday next month, and thanked firefighters for their hard work in putting out the blaze, his spokesperson said. He also promised to give the shop owners as much assistance as possible to help them return to business and immediately review the possibility of designating the area as a special disaster zone, which would make it eligible for the government's financial support in recovery work, relief funds for victims and other benefits. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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