Rival parties clash over first lady's alleged involvement in nominations

Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party clashed Thursday over allegations that first lady Kim Keon Hee was involved in nominating candidates for a 2022 by-election and the April 2024 parliamentary elections.

During a parliamentary audit of the National Election Commission, the state election watchdog, the People Power Party lawmakers dismissed the allegations, which have been raised by the media and the opposition bloc, as having nothing to do with the first lady or President Yoon Suk Yeol. The Democratic Party lawmakers characterized them as another case of meddling in state affairs following a separate scandal during the Park Geun-hye administration.

The allegations are that Myung Tae-kyun, a shadowy figure who ran a public opinion polling agency, used his connection with Yoon and the first lady to get former People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sun nominated for a by-election in Changwon and Uichang, South Gyeongsang Province, in 2022.

The first lady has also been accused of interfering with the People Power Party's candidate nominations for last April's elections through Myung.

"If there was something going on in the nomination process, I would have protested, but I accepted (Kim Young-sun's nomination) because I thought it was reasonable," said People Power Party Rep. Kim Jong-yang, who did not run in the 2022 by-election after losing the nomination to Kim Young-sun, during the audit by the parliamentary public administration and security committee.

"This case is not about the president's or the first lady's interference with the nominations, but about a politician and a bluffer partnering to betray the president and the first lady for their gains," he said, apparently referring to Myung and former lawmaker Kim.

Democratic Party Rep. Yang Bu-nam, citing Myung's remarks during an interview, claimed that Myung had spent 370 million won ($274,000) to conduct a public opinion survey for then presidential candidate Yoon and in return received Kim Young-sun's nomination.

"If it wasn't true, the presidential office should be infuriated, but it hasn't been," Yang said.

In response to opposition lawmakers' demands for an inquiry into the first lady's allegations, Kim Yong-bin, secretary general of the NEC, said the outcome of a commission inquiry is not enforceable and that an investigation is already underway. (Yonhap)