Prosecutors Summon Woo Sang-ho, Democratic Party Lawmaker, on Charges of Defaming Kim Geon-hee

"Tell the Foreign Minister's Wife to Stay Out" Remark
Presidential Office Files Defamation Lawsuit for Spreading False Information

The prosecution summoned Woo Sang-ho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, on charges of spreading false information related to First Lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of President Yoon Suk-yeol.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Park Hyuk-soo) summoned Representative Woo on the 17th from 2:00 PM to 6:30 PM and investigated him for about 4 hours and 30 minutes as a suspect on charges of defamation.

Woo Sang-ho, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

In May of last year, Representative Woo stated on a radio broadcast, "When the presidential office residence was being relocated, First Lady Kim told the wife of Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong, 'Please step outside as I need to look around inside.'

At that time, the presidential office denied the claim as untrue and filed a complaint with the police against Representative Woo for defamation by spreading false information.

The police confirmed that the wife of the Foreign Minister was out after receiving prior notice of the visit and that there was no encounter with First Lady Kim, and transferred the case to the prosecution in April.

Representative Woo explained during the investigation that he had no intention of spreading false information or defamation. He said, "The presidential residence was decided to be the residence of the Army Chief of Staff, and in pointing out the hasty process of moving it, I mentioned that First Lady Kim Keon-hee’s conduct was also inappropriate," adding, "I explained in the investigation that it was criticism, not defamation."

Earlier, on the 31st of last month, the prosecution also summoned Jang Kyung-tae, a Democratic Party lawmaker, as a suspect on charges of defamation for raising 'poverty porn' allegations regarding photos taken during First Lady Kim Keon-hee’s visit to Cambodia.

The prosecution is expected to soon decide whether to indict the two lawmakers.

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