South Korean president apologizes for controversies surrounding his wife

SOUTH KOREA: South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, has been in hot soup lately because of some of his wife’s shenanigans.

According to a BBC report, he recently apologized for controversies surrounding his wife, which included allegedly accepting a Dior handbag and manipulating shares on the stock exchange.

He did, however, say that her behaviour, though wrong, had been excessively exaggerated and demonized by the media and the public.

Yoon said his wife, Kim Keon Hee, should have conducted herself better. He also rejected a call to investigate her activities.

🧵President Yoon Suk-yeol’s public apology fails to quell growing political scandal over allegations of election interference and influence peddling by the first lady.

As approval ratings plummet, calls for an investigation intensify.

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— KOREA PRO (@southkoreapro) November 8, 2024

Yoon has been experiencing a downswing in his popularity, and this controversy has made matters worse.

At the end of last year, the left-wing YouTube channel Voice of Seoul published a video that showed Kim accepting a 3m won (USD$2,200) Dior handbag from a pastor.

The exchange was filmed using a camera concealed in a watch.

In February this year, Yoon said the video was part of a political conspiracy against him. At the time, he said that the incident was “regrettable” but did not apologise.

“The video [was made public] when the general election drew near, a year after the issue happened, so we can see this as a political manoeuvre.

The fact that she could not cold-heartedly reject him was the problem, if one can call it a problem, and it is a little regrettable,” Yoon had told KBS broadcaster.

Voon, the leader of the conservative People Power Party and the opposition party, which is South Korea’s Democratic Party, said during that time that his attitude was “shameless” and “hopeless”.

Within the President’s own party, one leader compared his wife with France’s infamous historical figure, Marie Antoinette, who was known for her crazily lavish lifestyle.

The opposition party has also said that Kim has been involved in stock price manipulation but Yoon conveniently vetoed a bill earlier this year which called for his wife to be investigated for the said offence.