news

After disappearing for 117 days, South Korea's first lady quietly appeared to "vote"

2024-08-10

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

South Korea's Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that reporters learned on April 9 that South Korea's "First Lady" Kim Gun-hee had participated in the "advance voting" for the 22nd National Assembly election at a polling station in Yongsan District, Seoul on the 5th of this month. The report said that because Kim Gun-hee had been "missing" for the past four months, her trip has attracted much attention. As of press time, no live photos of her voting trip on April 5 have been released by South Korean media. According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea will hold a parliamentary election on the 10th of this month, and the 5th and 6th will be "advance voting" days to facilitate those voters who cannot rush to the polling station on the official election day to vote in advance.

According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, a person related to the South Korean presidential office said on the 9th that Kim Gun-hee had gone to a polling station in Yongsan District near the Yongsan Presidential Palace in Seoul on the 5th to participate in the "advance voting". At the same time, Yoon Seok-yeol also voted at a polling station in Busan, South Korea on the same day.

According to the report, Kim Gun-hee had been missing for 117 days since she accompanied Yoon Seok-yeol on his visit to the Netherlands on December 15 last year. At the beginning of this year, she did not attend any official events hosted by Yoon Seok-yeol, such as the New Year's greetings meeting, Spring Festival greetings, and the 105th anniversary ceremony of the March 1st Movement.

The report analyzed that the presidential office did not inform Kim Kun-hee in advance to participate in the vote, probably because with the upcoming parliamentary elections, Kim Kun-hee's every move could become an unfavorable factor affecting the ruling party. Kim Kun-hee's controversies involving accepting branded bags and participating in stock manipulation in 2022 are still ongoing. The Korea Herald and other Korean media published an article on March 19 saying that the South Korean "first lady", who has repeatedly attracted attention and controversy, has been out of the public eye for more than 3 months, and this situation seems to have no signs of ending. With the South Korean parliamentary elections approaching, some Korean media analyzed that Kim Kun-hee's "disappearance" may be to help Yoon Seok-yeol and the ruling People's Power Party win the election.

According to Korean media reports, at 6 a.m. local time on April 10, the 22nd National Assembly election in South Korea officially started voting at about 14,000 polling stations in 254 constituencies across the country. Voting time is from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the same day. This election will produce 300 members of parliament, including 254 district members and 46 non-district members. Yonhap News Agency pointed out that this is a national election held in South Korea after two years, and it is a mid-term evaluation of the performance of the Yoon Seok-yeol government. (Yangchengpai)

Report/Feedback