Song Young-gil: "First Lady receives protocol and budget support as spouse of the Head of State... Verification is Naturally Necessary"

Representative Song: "Public opinion holds that verification is as important as for candidates"
"Spouse verification is naturally necessary too"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gu Chae-eun] Song Young-gil, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 15th, regarding the suspicions surrounding Kim Gun-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party candidate, stated, "The First Lady, as the spouse of the head of state, externally represents the Republic of Korea and is supported by the secretariat, various protocols, and budgets," adding, "Public opinion holds that she is subject to scrutiny just as much as the candidate. I believe it is naturally necessary to verify the candidate’s spouse as well."

On the same day, through his social media service (SNS), Leader Song publicly questioned Kim Jong-in, chairman of the People Power Party, and Lee Jun-seok, its leader, saying, "If the People Power Party applies the same standards to Yoon’s spouse as they did to the spouse of former candidate Park, do you believe Yoon is qualified to be president?"

He compared the suspicions about Kim Gun-hee to the case of former Minister of Oceans and Fisheries nominee Park Jun-young, who resigned amid allegations of his wife’s 'porcelain smuggling.' Song said, "While urging the resignation over the minister nominee’s spouse issue, are you suggesting granting immunity to the spouse of a presidential candidate responsible for national governance?"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Leader Song stated, "Former nominee Park was known as a clean official with nearly 30 years of service in the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and assets of about 200 million won, and had an excellent reputation within the ministry. He was fully qualified as a minister nominee," adding, "However, at that time, the opposition party insisted on Park’s resignation based on all sorts of hypotheses, including smuggling suspicions and misuse of diplomatic pouches, just from photos of porcelain dishes on his wife’s SNS account."

He continued, "Isn’t the person who raised the issue, claiming that the dishes bought by Park’s wife were worth at least tens of millions of won, none other than Kwon Seong-dong, secretary general of the People Power Party?" and emphasized, "Therefore, the government and the Democratic Party accepted the opposition’s demands, and although it was difficult to find disqualifying reasons for Park as a minister, they agreed that Park voluntarily resigned out of moral responsibility as a husband."

Meanwhile, after returning to party duties following ankle surgery, Leader Song was re-admitted to the hospital due to a torn ligament and underwent reoperation on the same day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.