South Korea’s Yoon faces pressure to apologise over wife’s Dior bag scandal as polls loom

The episode came to light after a video emerged online showing Kim Keon-hee receiving a US$2,200 Dior handbag by a US pastor, who said he had secretly filmed the incident to prove that she was corrupt.

Yoon has been hoping the storm would blow over but observers say he can no longer afford to ignore the issue, which comes on the back of rising voter frustration over the poor economy.

“This is the first time the first lady has been caught on camera accepting a luxury gift amid rampant allegations about her wrongdoing,” said Choi Jin, head of the think tank Institute of Presidential Leadership in Seoul.

Kim issued a public apology in 2021 for inflating her academic credentials and job resume when her husband was on a campaign trail. She has also been dogged by allegations of tax evasion, stock price manipulation and consulting fortune-tellers.

“This is a bitter pill to swallow for President Yoon, but he would have no alternatives but to publicly apologise over the incident which has riled up the people,” Choi added.

In an opinion poll published by YTN TV on Wednesday, 69 per cent of 1,000 respondents agreed that Yoon should clarify his position on issues surrounding his wife.

South Korea prohibits the spouse of a public official from receiving gifts worth more than 1 million won (US$750) in a single sitting, or items that exceed 3 million won in value over a one-year period. Those who violate the anti-corruption law face a maximum sentence of three years in prison and 30 million won in fines.

In November last year, video shot in 2022 by South Korea-born American pastor Choi Jae-young appeared on the left-leaning Voice of Seoul channel on YouTube.

It shows the pastor meeting Kim in the Seoul office of her exhibition planning firm,