Rep. Jang Kyung-tae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea / Yonhap

The ruling People Power Party (PPP) was set to submit a motion later Wednesday calling for disciplinary action against an opposition lawmaker for denouncing first lady Kim Keon-hee's charity work in Cambodia as "poverty porn."

Rep. Jang Kyung-tae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) made the remark earlier this week, criticizing the first lady for taking advantage of her visit to a sick child in Phnom Penh to take picture book photos.

Kim, who was in Cambodia to accompany President Yoon Suk-yeol, visited the child at his home on Saturday after he missed a meeting with her at a Korea-established hospital the previous day because he felt unwell.

The presidential office later released photos of her comforting the family, including those showing her carrying the gaunt boy in her arms and the boy sitting on her lap. Critics claimed the pictures look similar to photos of late actor Audrey Hepburn doing charity.

The PPP said it would submit a disciplinary action motion against Jang later Wednesday.

Female lawmakers of the PPP also issued a statement lashing out at Jang.

"How could he compare the visit to the home of a child with a heart disease aimed at calling for attention and support with a photo shoot?" they said in the statement.

They also demanded Jang to give up his National Assembly seat and his party to expel him.

The PPP also plans to submit a penalty motion against DPK Rep. Kim Eui-kyeom for misquoting European Union Ambassador Maria Castillo Fernandez on her remarks made during her meeting with DPK Chairman Lee Jae-myung last week.

Kim, the DPK's spokesperson, told a press briefing that the ambassador compared the preceding and incumbent governments' responses to North Korea's provocations, saying there was no channel for dialogue at the moment, but Fernandez later voiced regret that her remarks were misquoted. (Yonhap)