Park Chan-dae, center, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, speaks during a party meeting ahead of a parliamentary audit in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) stepped up calls for President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment Tuesday, taking issue with a shadowy confidante involved in first lady Kim Keon Hee's alleged interference in the April general elections.

DPK floor leader Park Chan-dae made the appeal during a party meeting on the second day of an annual parliamentary audit, saying a country with an informal adviser peddling influence in state affairs is "abnormal."

"We've all experienced it before and we all know how it ended," Park said.

Park was referring to Myung Tae-kyun, a key figure involved in Kim's alleged interference with the ruling party's candidate nominations ahead of the parliamentary elections on April 10.

An online media outlet reported last month that Myung used his acquaintanceship with Yoon and the first lady to gain access to information on the ruling People Power Party (PPP)'s election nominations and was involved in former PPP lawmaker Kim Young-sun's transfer to a different constituency.

Prosecutors suspect that the former lawmaker had handed over about 90 million won (US$69,000) to Myung on dozens of occasions following her win of a parliamentary by-election in the southeastern city of Changwon in June 2022.

Myung also claimed the first lady had offered him to join Yoon's transition committee in 2022.

At a PPP party meeting, floor leader Choo Kyung-ho criticized the DPK for attempting to "build up" to Yoon's impeachment at an audit hearing originally aimed at scrutinizing the management of the central and regional governments to improve people's livelihoods.

He also slammed the DPK's push to revise the Assembly regulations that will prevent the PPP from participating in a seven-member committee formed to recommend two special prosecutor candidates.

In a memo released to the press, Yoon's office refuted Myung's claim of a close relationship with the presidential couple, saying Yoon was introduced to him by a PPP politician but had no close ties with him.

"Yoon first met Myung in July 2021 when a senior PPP official brought Myung to his residence ... and met him for the second time shortly thereafter when a PPP politician visited his residence along with Myung," the presidential office said.

A PPP politician later advised Yoon to "distance himself from Myung, and the president has no recollection of exchanging text messages or talking to him on the phone afterward," it said. (Yonhap)