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| President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee attend Yoon's inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, May 10. Korea Times photo by Oh Dae-keun |
By Nam Hyun-woo
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Friday it has destroyed the list of guests invited to President Yoon Suk-yeol's inauguration ceremony to protect personal information, dismissing allegations that it did so to conceal controversial figures suspected of having relations with first lady Kim Keon-hee.
The ministry said in a press release that it has destroyed all personal information of the guests immediately after the inauguration ceremony on May 10. Also, it has destroyed relevant data remaining at the organizing team on May 13.
The information includes guests' names, residential registration numbers and their contact numbers.
The ministry added that it destroyed the information according to a relevant law "without any other purpose." The law it was referring to is the Personal Information Protection Act, whose Article 21 states that "a personal information controller shall destroy personal information without delay when the personal information becomes unnecessary."
The explanation came after Rep. Ko Min-jung of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) claimed that the ministry attempted to conceal the list of the guests, as controversy stirred that Kwon Hyuk-min, CEO of Deutsch Motors, and Ahn Jeong-kwon, a controversial far-right streamer who have been staging rallies in front of former President Moon Jae-in's residence, attended the ceremony as VIP guests.
The lawmaker urged Interior Minister Lee Sang-min to clarify why the list was destroyed and who ordered it to be destroyed.
Kwon is the son of Kwon Oh-soo, chairman of the BMW dealer company, who was indicted of alleged stock price manipulation. The first lady is also under investigation on suspicions that she might have been involved.
Streamer Ahn is also a controversial figure and his sister was revealed to be working at the presidential office as an official staff member assisting Yoon's photographers. Although the sister resigned after her family ties with the right-wing YouTuber were revealed, suspicions remained because Ahn has boasted about his relations with the first lady in his videos.
"It is impossible to clear suspicions that the interior ministry is attempting to conceal the list," Ko wrote on Facebook. "Interior minister Lee Sang-min should reveal who ordered the destruction of the list."
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