People Are Protesting Against Korea’s First Lady and Using Game and Kids to Defame Her and the President

President Yun said, “We must correct the broken judiciary with an investigation that has no sanctuary. We will surely pursue the case.”

Park Hong-geun, the leader of South Korea’s opposition Coalition Democratic Party, declared at a National Assembly session on February 13.

The target of the pursuit is Kim Keon-hee, 50, the wife of President Yun Suk-yeol. One of the issues facing Mrs. Kim is the alleged rigging of the stock price of a subsidiary of Deutsche Motors, which has sales rights in South Korea. On February 10, the former chairman of the company was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for three years, but Mrs. Kim was not charged. Park also told the National Assembly.

“Mrs. Kim appeared more than 200 times in the complaint and her name was mentioned more than 300 times in the trial, but the prosecutors did not summon her even once. It appears that the prosecutors, the court, and the president’s office were all trying to protect Mrs. Kim.”

Elementary school students also participated.

Mrs. Kim is in a tight spot. The opposition-affiliated citizens’ group “Candlelight Victory Conversion Action” is strongly demanding an investigation of Mrs. Kim by a special prosecutor appointed by the National Assembly. The group held a rally in Seoul on February 11 with about 2,000 participants.

The participants held cards with such slogans as “Persecute Kim Keon-hee” and “The law is dead” in their hands and shouted, ‘President Yun must step down!’ The group’s online bulletin board posted the comment, ‘The people’s anger is amplified by the Yun administration’s unbelievable behavior.’

One event at the group’s rally was the target of fierce protest from Mrs. Kim’s fan club, “Keon-Sarang (I love you, Kim Keon-hee),” and conservative groups. Elementary school students participated too.

“The game involved shooting down targets laid out on a table with toy bows. The target was a problem because it had pictures of President Yun and Mrs. Kim’s faces on it,” he said. At the booth where the game was held, there were banners that read ‘thug politics,’ ‘pro-Japan traitor,’ ‘war crisis,’ and so on.

Yoon Sang-hyun, a member of the ruling party “People’s Power,” responded on his Facebook page, saying, “Even if our political positions are different, this is too much.” The members of Keon-Sarang also claimed that “a target-shooting event seriously damaged the honor of the president and first lady of a country,” and that “it was terrible that even elementary school children were allowed to participate.”

Keon-Sarang and others have filed a police complaint against the group that organized the event, alleging defamation and child abuse, among other charges.

The allegations of stock manipulation against South Korea’s first lady are becoming a major news involving citizens and the police.