A conservative People Power Party lawmaker-elect, who clinched an attention-getting victory in one of Seoul’s progressive strongholds in this week’s general election, said Friday his party should show a flexible attitude toward the opposition bloc’s push for a special investigation bill on first lady Kim Keon Hee.
Kim Jae-sub, a 30-something politician first elected to the National Assembly from the Dobong A district in northern Seoul, said that various issues regarding the first lady have hindered the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s ability to run state affairs and there have been public demands for resolving questions about those issues.
His remarks slightly differ from the previous stance of the ruling party, which suffered a crushing defeat against the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) in Wednesday’s general election.
The first lady has been accused of involvement in manipulating the stock prices of Deutsch Motors Inc., a BMW car dealer in South Korea, between 2009 and 2012. The DP railroaded a special
investigation proposal to look into related allegations, but Yoon vetoed the bill in January. She also came under fire for receiving a luxury Dior handbag from a left-wing pastor in 2022.
“We need to show a forward-looking attitude toward the Kim Keon Hee special bill,” the lawmaker-elect said in a radio interview, though he called for a careful approach to the issue because the stock manipulation allegations happened before Yoon was elected president.
He also stressed that Yoon should have a one-on-one meeting with DP leader Lee Jae-myung to discuss pending economic and other issues and the ruling party should show a more independent attitude in its relationship with the presidential office.
Source: Yonhap News Agency