President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee board Air Force One at Dulles Airport near Washington, Thursday (local time) to depart for home after attending the NATO summit. Joint Press Corps

President Yoon Suk Yeol faces a range of daunting issues at home as he wrapped up his trip to the annual NATO summit in Washington, Thursday (local time).

The issues include the looming specter of a potential National Assembly impeachment hearing where his wife, Kim Keon Hee, has been called to testify.

Yoon is also under increasing pressure from the rising infighting within the People Power Party (PPP) amid the ongoing leadership race. The conflict, ignited by the first lady's controversial text messages sent to Han Dong-hoon — Yoon's former right-hand man — threatens to further complicate matters for the presidential couple.

Earlier this week, the Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jung Chung-rae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), decided to hold two hearings on July 19 and 26 to discuss the impeachment of the president.

The decision follows an online petition on the Assembly website calling for Yoon's impeachment for his policy blunders and ongoing controversies surrounding his wife. The petition has amassed around 1.4 million signatures as of Friday.

The legislation committee has requested the first lady to testify at the second hearing, where the opposition lawmakers seek to scrutinize scandals surrounding her, including the alleged illegal acceptance of a Dior handbag from a Korean American pastor in 2022 and involvement in stock manipulation that occurred in 2009 and 2012.

Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), right, protest after being blocked from entering the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Friday. The lawmakers attempted to deliver letters requesting presidential officials to attend hearings on the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol set for July 19 and 26. Yonhap

Several DPK members visited the presidential office, Friday, to express their discontent over the administration's uncooperative attitude toward the impeachment hearing. The lawmakers tried to deliver letters asking senior officials to attend the hearing as witnesses, but their efforts were blocked by security guards stationed at the entrance.

The ruling party has declared the decision to hold the impeachment hearings unconstitutional, arguing that the motion was railroaded through by DPK members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. On Friday, PPP lawmakers filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court, seeking to have the hearing nullified.

However, the PPP's unified effort to support the president might be compromised by growing internal tensions within the party's leadership race. Han, a prominent candidate for the PPP's leadership in the July 23 national convention, is embroiled in controversy over allegations that he deliberately overlooked text messages from the first lady.

Last week, it was revealed that Kim sent five Telegram text messages to Han back in January while he was serving as the PPP's interim leader during the party's April 10 general election campaign. In those messages, Kim apologized for the controversies surrounding herself and expressed her willingness to issue a public apology. But Han did not respond to any of them.

Han Dong-hoon, former interim leader of the ruling People Power Party, speaks during a forum in Daegu, Friday. Yonhap

Some PPP members criticized Han's behavior, arguing that if the first lady had apologized at that time, it could have changed the course of the general elections, which saw the ruling party suffer a crushing defeat. Opposition parties have labeled Kim's text messages as interference in the party's internal affairs and a potential exertion of influence on state matters.

Meanwhile, the president should also deal with the fallout from a veto decision he made earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Yoon vetoed a special counsel probe bill seeking to investigate the death of Marine Corps Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who died during a search and rescue mission in July 2023. Yoon approved the veto electronically while visiting Hawaii before attending the NATO summit.

The probe bill, pushed through by the opposition bloc, aims to investigate the government's alleged interference in the military's investigation into Chae's death. It also includes a sweeping investigation into senior presidential aides based on speculation that Yoon's office may have exerted pressure in the military's internal probe.

This was the 15th parliament-passed bill vetoed by Yoon since he took office in May 2022. The DPK warned that the latest veto would be the "beginning of the collapse of the Yoon government," asserting that it goes against widespread public support for the bill.