Rep. Jung Chung-rae of Democratic Party of Korea, chair of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, leaves after chairing a committee session on holding a hearing on a petition demanding the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Yonhap

First lady Kim Keon Hee was designated as a witness, Tuesday, for a public hearing on a petition demanding the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jung Chung-rae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), convened a full meeting and decided to hold a hearing on the petition, which called on the Assembly to table an impeachment motion for Yoon. Lawmakers of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the session.

The committee decided to hold a hearing related to the petition, request submission of related documents and call for the attendance of witnesses, including first lady Kim Keon Hee and former Marine division chief Lim Seong-geun.

Kim faces allegations that she illegally accepted a luxury handbag from a Korean American pastor in 2022 and was involved in stock manipulation of Deutsch Motors, a BMW car dealer in Korea, between 2009 and 2012. Lim is at the center of allegations of interference by the presidential office in the military's probe into a Marine's death, which occurred during a search and rescue operation in a flooded area in July 2023.

The committee will hold two separate hearings — one on July 19 focusing on allegations of exerting external pressure on the military investigation into the Marine's death and the other on July 26 on the accusations against the first lady.

The petition calls on the Assembly to propose a bill to impeach Yoon on the grounds that he is unfit for office. The petition, which was posted on the Assembly's website on June 20, has amassed over 1.3 million signatures as of Tuesday noon.

A petition approved by more than 50,000 people within 30 days is referred to a parliamentary subcommittee that reviews petitions under the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, and can be submitted to a plenary session.

The move comes as the DPK faces growing criticism over its push to impeach four incumbent prosecutors, mostly involved in corruption investigations into former party leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung.

The DPK's planned impeachment is believed to constitute an abuse of power as lawmakers because it interferes with the exercise of others' rights in violation of the Constitution and laws.

PPP lawmakers leave a Legislation and Judiciary Committee meeting in a show of protest against holding a hearing on a petition demanding the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol at the National Assembly, Tuesday. Yonhap

The PPP slammed the DPK's push to impeach the president, calling the petition "nonsense."

"The DPK revealed its ambition to impeach the president sooner than expected. The DPK is using the tragic death of a young Marine as a stunt to impeach the president. Instead of wasting time on attacking the president with lies, please make efforts to improve the people's livelihoods," Rep. Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the PPP, said during a party meeting.

Meanwhile, Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accused Yoon of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula to deflect attention from domestic issues, citing the online petition calling for the president's impeachment.

The Ministry of Unification responded to Kim's statement, describing it as "an attempt to sow internal division in South Korea."