This photo shows President Yoon Suk Yeol (right), People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon (second from left) holding a meeting on Monday, (Presidential office)
President Yoon Suk Yeol vowed to implement a staff shakeup at his office if issues involving his aides emerge, while promising that his wife Kim Keon Hee will limit her public role, according to Yoon's office on Tuesday.
Yoon’s remarks followed a highly sensitive meeting with Han Dong-hoon, leader of the ruling People Power Party and his estranged political protege. Han, the former justice minister, urged Yoon to address the growing controversies surrounding First Lady Kim, as political opponents intensified their accusations. Kim has been embroiled in multiple scandals, including alleged influence peddling in national politics, stock manipulation, and violations of the anti-graft law through the acceptance of luxury gifts, the latter two of which were previously dismissed by the national prosecution.
Yoon "will take action" as long as Han shares with his office what misdeeds some of his presidential secretaries are suspected of having been involved in, Yoon was quoted as saying by a source from the presidential office on condition of anonymity.
Yoon asked Han to share information about any misdeeds of officials in the presidential office with the president's Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk and senior presidential secretary for political affairs Hong Chul-ho, according to his office.
This was in response to Han's request for a staff shakeup amid speculation that some presidential staff had a personal relationship with Kim and allowed her to meddle in state affairs.
Regarding Han's call on the presidential office to have Kim refrain from making public appearances, Yoon was also quoted as saying that Kim "is having a hard time" and that she "has already reduced her public appearances in comparison to previous first ladies, but will try to further reduce them if Kim is seen before the public too often."
These are some of the answers that Yoon gave to Han, according to the presidential office, which said Han made no responses of particular note.
Yoon thanked ruling party lawmakers during the meeting for "putting a brake on bills that would violate constitutional order," including opposition-sponsored special counsel bills potentially targeting Yoon's family. Yoon suggested no ruling party lawmaker "would ever vote in favor of" such a bill, according to Yoon's office.
In the latest revote on Oct. 4 that could have potentially overridden Yoon's veto of a special counsel bill targeting Kim, the actual number of votes against the bill came to 104, fewer than the 108 People Power Party lawmakers in the 300-seat National Assembly.
In addition, the presidential office unveiled plans to revive the first lady's office in early November -- the office inside the presidential bureaucracy that Yoon eliminated upon his inauguration to streamline administrative processes. Yoon's office, however, said this issue was not discussed during the meeting between Yoon and Han.
Yoon's office did not immediately confirm whether Yoon and Han had scheduled a follow-up meeting after Monday's event.
People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon (center) is seen surrounded by citizens and his aides as he visited Ganghwa-gun of Incheon on Tuesday, (Yonhap)
This comes as the closed-door meeting between the President and the ruling party leader lasted for more than an hour at the presidential office, joined by Yoon's aide Chung.
Rep. Park Jeong-ha, chief secretary to Han, held a briefing on behalf of Han on the outcome of the meeting Monday evening.
Park explained that Han raised the need to mitigate public sentiment toward the Yoon administration, tackle negative issues related to Yoon's wife, and push for a new dialogue over the medical student admission quota. But Park declined to talk about Yoon's response to Han's proposals, saying he did not attend the closed-door meeting.
Following the coffee meeting between Yoon and Han, Yoon attended a dinner with ruling party lawmakers, including floor leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho. Han was reportedly absent at the dinner.
Choo told reporters Tuesday that Yoon's presence at a dinner with ruling party lawmakers was "something casual," and declined to reveal whether Yoon and Choo discussed Yoon's meeting with Han on Monday. Yoon's office declined to confirm whether Yoon went to the dinner.
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