▲ First lady Kim Keon Hee (C) meets with a group of activists, experts and family members of people detained in North Korea at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington in this file photo taken July 11, 2024. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

presidential office-first lady

Presidential office to revive office of first lady

SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- The presidential office said Tuesday it will revive the office of the first lady to better handle the planning and execution of her public activities, a decision that follows controversy over first lady Kim Keon Hee's acceptance of a luxury handbag.

The office of the personal secretary to the first lady was abolished with the launch of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration in May 2022 after Yoon pledged during the campaign to remove it to streamline the operations of the presidential office and minimize controversies surrounding his wife.

The need to revive the office has persistently been raised, however, amid intense scrutiny of Kim's actions, including her 2022 acceptance of a luxury handbag from a Korean American pastor, which he claims was in exchange for personal favors.

"We made the final decision to create an office (of the personal secretary to the first lady) by reorganizing the organizational setup (of the presidential office)," a key presidential official told reporters, noting Yoon said in a February interview with public broadcaster KBS he would revive the office if that was the people's wish.

Jang Sun-chil, currently secretary to the president for civil and social agenda, has reportedly been tapped to lead the office, which is likely to also include four or five staff members currently assisting the first lady as part of the office of the personal secretary to the president.

The presidential office added that it remains unchanged in its position that Yoon will appoint a special inspector charged with investigating corruption among the president's family members and senior aides, if the National Assembly recommends one as is its job.

The office of the special inspector was established under then President Park Geun-hye in 2014 to conduct investigations into alleged irregularities committed by the president's spouse, close relatives up to and including first cousins, and presidential officials ranking equal to or above senior presidential secretary.

The position has been vacant since 2016.

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