**Kim’s suspension of external activities and personnel reform:**
Ahead of a private meeting with President Yoon, three major demands were formalized.
The Democratic Party added “Yoon’s obstruction of investigation suspicion” to the special prosecutor law.
On the 17th, Kim Dong-hoon, leader of the People Power Party, formalized three demands on President Yoon Suk-yeol regarding First Lady Kim Keon-hee: a personnel reshuffle in the presidential office related to the First Lady, suspension of her external activities, and cooperation in procedures to address suspicions about her. Evaluations suggest that Kim Dong-hoon, who gained momentum, was strengthened after the party won a by-election for the Geumjeong District Mayor of Busan, a traditional conservative stronghold, by a margin of 22.07 percentage points over the Democratic Party.
On the same day, President Yoon, through the presidential office, stated that he would “accept the people’s will to change what is lacking” regarding the by-election results. However, he did not officially respond to Kim’s demands. As Kim Dong-hoon raised three demands ahead of a private meeting with the President, there is analysis suggesting that the “Yoon-Kim conflict” regarding First Lady Kim’s issues came to a critical turning point. The Democratic Party submitted the third “Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecutor Law” on this day, encompassing all suspicions related to the First Lady, including “illegal opinion poll-election fraud allegations through Myung Tae-kyun.”
During the Supreme Council meeting, Kim Dong-hoon stated, “Political issues are repeatedly overshadowed by matters related to the First Lady,” and acknowledged, “Although there are excessive political offensives by the opposition, actions that didn’t meet the public eye level and a failure to properly explain suspicions have led to extremely deteriorated public sentiment.” He demanded the dismissal of the “Kim Keon-hee line” and cessation of her external activities from the presidential office and said, “If there are procedures needed to clarify suspicions, they should actively cooperate with them.” When asked by reporters if he was considering the “Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecutor Law,” he replied, “It’s necessary for the First Lady to actively explain problems raised by the opposition.”
The Democratic Party’s special prosecutor law introduced on this day includes 14 investigation targets, up from 8 in the previously rejected second proposal, which was discarded 4 days ago due to the President’s veto. New investigation targets were added, covering six new areas such as the alleged stock manipulation case of Deutsche Motors, lobbying suspicions related to former Brigade Commander Lim Seong-geun, First Lady’s alleged involvement in election nominations, suspicions of election fraud during the 20th presidential election and primaries through Myung Tae-kyun, allegations of involvement in the relocation of the presidential residence, suspicions of route changes in the Yangpyeong Expressway, and the prosecution’s “lenient investigation.” Additionally, for the first time, “suspicion of the President’s obstruction of investigation” was specifically included in the Kim Keon-hee Special Prosecutor Law.