Cho Kuk "I want to say goodbye to being president... 3 years is a long time"

Supreme Council Opening Remarks: "You Can't Cover a Dior Bag with an Eco Bag"

“It’s not ‘Bye Bye Plastic Bags,’ but the people want to say ‘Bye Bye’ to the president. Three years is too long.”

On the 14th, Jo Guk, leader of the Jo Guk Innovation Party, referred to First Lady Kim Geon-hee’s eco bag during President Yoon Seok-yeol’s tour of three Central Asian countries. ‘Bye Bye Plastic Bags’ is the phrase written on the eco bag that Kim carried during the overseas trip.

Cho Kuk, leader of the National Innovation Party, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting held at the Rotunda Hall of the National Assembly on the morning of the 14th. Photo by Yonhap News

During the party’s Supreme Council meeting held at the Rotunda Hall of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, that morning, Leader Jo said, “You cannot cover a ‘Dior bag’ with an ‘eco bag.’”

He continued, “The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, which investigated the allegations of Kim Geon-hee’s receipt of a luxury bag for nearly half a year, abruptly announced on the day of the tour that there were no violations,” and emphasized, “The chairman of the commission, Yoo Cheol-hwan, is a law school classmate of President Yoon, and Vice Chairman Jeong Seung-yoon is from the presidential campaign and the presidential transition team.”

He added, “I will say no more about the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, which has fallen to become a servant of power,” and criticized again, “Not only the prosecution and ruling party lawmakers but now even the public institution that is supposed to prevent corruption among public officials and protect the rights of the people has become a self-proclaimed bodyguard of Yongsan.”

Leader Jo also said, “People’s livelihoods are in ruins, and patients who need treatment have taken to protests due to the announced collective strike. The people are trembling with anxiety,” and pointed out, “In this situation, the president went on an overseas tour without justification. This is not the time to boast about signing 37 MOUs.”

President Yoon Suk-yeol's State Visit to Uzbekistan
Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, on the 10th at around 5:30 p.m., the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced at a briefing at the Government Sejong Complex that the investigation into First Lady Kim’s receipt of the Dior bag was closed, stating, “There is no provision in the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act to punish the spouse of a public official.”

Subsequently, on the 12th, Vice Chairman Jeong Seung-yoon of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission explained further to reporters the reason for closing the investigation into the case where First Lady Kim Geon-hee received the luxury Dior bag from Choi Jae-young. He said that since Kim’s receipt of the Dior bag had no relevance to President Yoon’s official duties, the majority of the commission members decided to close the case. Regarding President Yoon’s reporting obligations, Vice Chairman Jeong stated, “According to legal interpretation, there is no obligation to report this case.”

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