Yoon, PPP chief Han meet to bridge rift

President Yoon Suk Yeol and conservative People Power Party (PPP) leader Han Dong-hoon held a meeting at the presidential office on Monday to discuss various issues, which likely included controversies involving first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Yoon and Han met over tea at 4:30 p.m. at Pine Grass, a reception hall inside the presidential complex, with Yoon’s chief of staff, Chung Jin-suk, also present, according to Yoon’s office.

Although the contents of their discussion had not been disclosed by the presidential office or the PPP by press time, Han told reporters that he expected to hold “in-depth discussions on the need for change and reform, as well as livelihood issues.”

Their meeting came weeks after Han began pressing the president for a one-on-one meeting to discuss matters widely believed to have caused a rift between the two erstwhile political allies, who are both former prosecutors.

Han also served as Yoon's first justice minister from May 2022 to December last year, when he became the PPP's interim leader.

In public, the PPP leader has refrained from addressing the president’s chronically low approval ratings, which are believed to have contributed to the party’s wipeout in the April general election.

But last week, he called for a reshuffle at the presidential office after party members accused the first lady of exercising influence over state affairs through a following of ten former and current Yoon administration officials.

That rumor is the latest in a growing list of allegations against Kim, who has also been accused of involvement in the Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation scheme, accepting a luxury handbag from a Korean American pastor and interfering with the PPP’s candidate nominations ahead of the general election.

However, prosecutors on Thursday decided not to indict Kim over her alleged role in the stock price manipulation scheme after concluding she was unaware of illegal activities by former Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo from 2009 to 2012.

Last month, prosecutors also declined to bring an indictment against the first lady for accepting a blue calfskin Lady Dior pouch worth 3 million won ($2,240) from Korean American pastor Choi Jae-young after finding the gift did not result in any illegal favors or impact the president’s official duties.

After the prosecution declined to indict Kim last week, the liberal Democratic Party (DP), which holds a majority in the National Assembly, introduced a bill calling for a special counsel probe into allegations involving Kim.  

Two previous versions of the same bill were vetoed by the president in January and earlier this month.

The DP also said Friday it would move to impeach Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung for the prosecution’s decision not to indict Kim.

Rep. Park Chung-ha, the PPP leader’s chief secretary, said via press release that DP leader Lee Jae-myung requested a meeting with Han on Monday, which Park said had been “gladly accepted.”

The two leaders held their first one-on-one meeting in early September to reach an agreement on which bills both parties could support in the National Assembly after months of gridlock over highly contentious legislation.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]