First lady Kim Keon Hee’s absence at an opposition-led parliamentary hearing on Friday sparked a protest by opposition parties, while the ruling party came to her defense. Kim and her mother failing to appear as witnesses at the hearing organized by the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee Friday morning, to review an online petition with some 1.4 million signatures calling for the impeachment of her husband President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The impeachment motion against Yoon cited five allegations, including the first lady’s alleged involvement in a stock price manipulation case and her alleged acceptance of a luxury Dior bag in violation of antigraft law. Kim and her 77-year-old mother, Choi Eun-soon, were among the 24 witnesses summoned by the committee to testify at Friday's hearing, alongside current presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk and Prosecutor General Lee One-seok. Eighteen of the total 24 witnesses including Kim, Choi, Chung and Lee failed to appear at the hearing or file official statements with the reason for their absence, according to the main opposition party.
The presidential office had not released any statement explaining the reason behind Kim's absence as of 3 p.m., though the ruling People Power Party denounced the hearing as an attempt to “publicly shame” the first lady, in a statement released in the afternoon.
“National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jung Chung-rae and the Democratic Party of Kore.
