Four PPP chief candidates agree on establishing the first lady office

All four candidates vying for the chairmanship of the ruling People Power Party after the disastrous general elections emphasized the need to strictly control the First Lady issue. In Wednesday's CBS debate, the four candidates agreed that First Lady Kim Kun Hee should be investigated for the luxury bags and that an office for the first lady should be set up in the presidential office. The four shared the same view on this particular issue in the election race dubbed the self-destructive divisive party convention.

Regarding prosecutors' need to investigate First Lady Kim Kun Hee, candidates Han Dong-hoon and Yoon Sang-hyun emphasized “equality before the law,” while Na Kyung-won said, “No one is exempt from the rule of law.” Won Hee-ryong said, “If (she) frankly tells the people her feelings, the people will open their hearts.” They have given these answers in response to the public's disappointment over the video in which she is seen taking a luxury bag as a gift and the spread of negative public opinion about First Lady Kim in the wake of the release of 'Kim’s text messages (to Han).'

They emphasized in unison the establishment of the office exclusively for the first lady because they instinctively knew that if additional negative rumors about the first lady emerged, it would significantly burden the president’s leadership in administering state affairs. Candidates Yoon and Han called for “prompt installation of such an office,” and Won concurred, saying, “The President spoke positively about it after the general elections.” Candidate Na said, “The presidential campaign promise to abolish the first lady’s office was ill-advised in the first place.” The first lady's office was always present in the presidential office of previous presidents, but it was eliminated following the inauguration of the current administration. As a result, the activities of the incumbent first lady have become opaque, spawning different speculations by critics. At Tuesday's Channel A TV debate, all four candidates said they would like First Lady Kim to apologize. They differed in their wording, but the idea was the same: the people want it, and the First Lady has a public responsibility to do so.

President Yoon Suk Yeol's presidency is on shaky ground. The ongoing controversy over the first lady may have had an impact. Nevertheless, decision-making regarding the First Lady has been indecisive, and the prosecutorial investigation has been stalled, undermining the President's rhetoric of principle and fairness. The office for the first lady or special inspector general that would monitor the first lady and her family to provide transparency and instill a sense of vigilance has never been created. The positions on First Lady Kim put forward by the four leading contenders Tuesday and Wednesday are their pledges to the people and critical advice to the President. When the president sees something like this, he has to take action. It's not something to dwell on, and the time to do so has already passed.