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Cho Kuk (center), the leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, and fellow lawmakers-elect from the party march from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul on April 11, 2024, after holding a press event outside the office where they called for an investigation into alleged impropriety by first lady Kim Keon-hee. (Yoon Woon-sik/The Hankyoreh)

In their first official act after winning their elections, Cho Kuk and fellow lawmakers-elect from the Rebuilding Korea Party marched to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul on Thursday.
 
Cho and other of the party’s proportional representatives held a press briefing in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in the capital city’s Seocho District that day where they urged prosecutors to summon first lady Kim Keon-hee for questioning in relation to alleged improprieties.
 
“We wish to relay the people’s longing for judgment to be passed on Yoon Suk-yeol’s prosecutorial dictatorship, which was reflected in the results of the general election, to the prosecution service,” Cho said after the march.
 
“The Korean people are asking why prosecutors are failing to investigate those who are rampantly abusing power and why the prosecution service’s unforgiving scrutiny fails to target the president and his family,” he added.

Cho Kuk of the Rebuilding Korea Party speaks at a press conference held outside the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul on April 11, 2024. (Yoon Woon-sik/The Hankyoreh)

Cho went on to touch on the Dior bag scandal that erupted surrounding the first lady’s acceptance of a luxury clutch. 

“Do prosecutors really buy the presidential office’s explanation that this was a ‘spy camera sting’?” he asked. “If it were a hidden camera sting, prosecutors should subpoena those involved and punish them.”

The new party’s leader went on to say that if prosecutors failed to “follow the commands of the people,” he and his party would work together with the Democratic Party to quickly pursue legislation assigning special counsel to the cases surrounding Kim Keon-hee once the 22nd National Assembly kicks off. 

“If prosecutors don’t take action and investigate, the first lady will face a subpoena and questioning from a special counsel,” he said. 

Following their press conference, Cho and the other lawmakers-elect marched from the gate of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to outside the Supreme Court while carrying signs that read “Subpoena first lady Kim Keon-hee.” 

Cho Kuk (center), the leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party, and fellow lawmakers-elect from the party stand outside the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul on April 11, 2024, where they call for an investigation into first lady Kim Keon-hee. (Yoon Woon-sik/The Hankyoreh)

By Yoon Woon-sik, senior staff writer

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