▲ First lady Kim Keon-hee (C) holds a Cambodian child with a congenital heart disease while visiting his home in Phnom Penh on Nov. 12, 2022, in this photo provided by the presidential office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) ruling party-opposition lawmakers

(LEAD) PPP submits penalty motion against opposition lawmaker over 'poverty porn' remarks on first lady

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with latest info)

By Kim Na-young

SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Yonhap) -- The ruling People Power Party (PPP) submitted a motion Wednesday calling for disciplinary action against an opposition lawmaker for denouncing first lady Kim Keon-hee's charity work in Cambodia as "poverty porn."

Rep. Jang Kyung-tae of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) made the remark earlier this week, accusing the first lady of taking advantage of her visit to a sick child in Phnom Penh to take picture book photos.

Kim, who was in Cambodia to accompany President Yoon Suk-yeol, visited the child at his home on Saturday after he missed a meeting with her at a South Korea-established hospital the previous day because he felt unwell.

The presidential office later released photos of her comforting the family, including those showing her carrying the gaunt boy in her arms and the boy sitting on her lap. Critics claimed the pictures look similar to photos of late actor Audrey Hepburn doing charity.

Rep. Jang Dong-hyeok, the PPP's spokesperson, said the DP lawmaker violated his duty to keep his dignity as a parliamentarian by insulting the first lady and disparaging her diplomatic work.

Female lawmakers of the PPP also issued a statement lashing out at the opposition lawmaker.

"How could he compare the visit to the home of a child with a heart disease aimed at calling for attention and support with a photo shoot?" they said in the statement.

They also demanded Jang give up his National Assembly seat and his party expel him.

The PPP also submitted a penalty motion against DP Rep. Kim Eui-kyeom for misquoting European Union Ambassador Maria Castillo Fernandez on her remarks made during her meeting with DP Chairman Lee Jae-myung last week.

Kim, the DP's spokesperson, told a press briefing that the ambassador compared the preceding and incumbent governments' responses to North Korea's provocations, saying there was no channel for dialogue at the moment, but Fernandez later voiced regret that her remarks were misquoted.

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