Song Eon-seok, floor leader of the People Power Party, noted on the 8th that "there is even talk going around that the power ranking of 'Jonomyun Ji (Kim Hyun-ji, presidential office deputy minister for the first lady's office)' is higher than that of the first lady."
Song, the floor leader, said on his Facebook that "operating the second lady's office was a presidential campaign pledge by Lee Jae-myung. Chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik claims that he had been preparing the personnel move of Deputy Minister Kim Hyun-ji for a month, but if they had prepared for a month, there should not have been a vacancy in the position of deputy minister of the second lady's office, which assists the first lady," adding, "this means that 'protecting Kim Hyun-ji' was a higher priority than 'assisting the first lady.'"
Earlier, on the 29th of last month, President Lee Jae-myung carried out a personnel reshuffle to move Deputy Minister Kim Hyun-ji from presidential office secretary for general affairs to deputy minister for the first lady's office. Yoon Gi-cheon, deputy minister for the second lady's office, was appointed as the new secretary for general affairs. The position of deputy minister for the second lady's office, which assists first lady Kim Hea-kyung, will remain vacant for the time being.
Accordingly, in political circles, there is criticism that this appointment was intended to avoid Deputy Minister Kim Hyun-ji's appearance at the National Assembly's audit of the government.
Song, the floor leader, wrote, "Now Deputy Minister Kim Hyun-ji must appear at the audit and dispel various rumors circulating in the public," and "Woo Sang-ho, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, had pledged in a media interview before Chuseok, with regard to whether Deputy Minister Kim would attend the audit, that she would 'appear 100%.' I believe the senior secretary's promise to the public will be kept."
He added, "The People Power Party will strongly demand Deputy Minister Kim's appearance at the audit of the government after the Chuseok holiday. We will push for Deputy Minister Kim to appear as a witness not only at the presidential office audit by the National Assembly's steering committee, but also at various standing committee audits tied to her, including allegations of personnel interference with the Korea Forest Service chief and the Baekhyeon-dong corruption case."
Song, the floor leader, also criticized the president's appearance on an entertainment program, saying on Facebook that morning, "On the day the nation stopped, the president was smiling while filming entertainment."
Song, the floor leader, said, "Due to the fire at the National Information Resources Service on the evening of Sept. 26, 647 administrative information systems were paralyzed, and more than 70 types of administrative services were completely suspended. It was an unprecedented national disaster in which the daily lives of the people and the functions of the state halted simultaneously," emphasizing, "however, despite the national disaster, at the very time the state was paralyzed, the presidential couple were showing smiles in front of the camera."
He went on, "It is said that President Lee presided over an emergency countermeasures meeting only at 10:50 a.m. on the 28th, two days after the fire broke out," and "moreover, right after the morning meeting, the place he headed was not the disaster site but an entertainment recording set. In the end, it means he values his 'promotional entertainment appearance' more than responding to a national crisis."
In addition, Song, the floor leader, stressed, "When the lives of the people have come to a standstill, the president cannot laugh," and "President Lee must immediately and sincerely apologize to the public for this situation, and clearly explain the circumstances and responsibility for dereliction of presidential duty and delayed response during the disaster."