South Korean ruling party piles pressure on first lady Kim Keon-hee to apologise for accepting Dior handbag from pastor

Critical voices are growing within the South Korean ruling People Power Party (PPP) over controversies surrounding first lady Kim Keon-hee, including video footage of her receiving a Dior handbag from a Korean-American pastor in 2022.

During a policy event on Thursday, PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon told reporters that the first lady’s handbag controversy “can be a matter of public concern.”

“Basically, the matter was a planned set-up using a spy cam,” Han said. “However, there were several misdeeds in handling the issues.”

Voice of Seoul, a liberal YouTube-based news channel, claimed in November that the first lady had been gifted the Christian Dior handbag valued at around 3 million won (US$2,240) from the pastor in September 2022 and released video footage of the scene. The video was filmed secretly by the pastor using a camera disguised as a watch and the bag was reportedly provided by the YouTube channel.

The controversy resurfaced after a number of newcomers to the ruling party voiced their critical opinions on the bag issue. They also spoke up about Kim’s alleged involvement in a stock manipulation scandal, for which a special counsel investigation was approved by the National Assembly but vetoed by Yoon.

During a YouTube interview on Wednesday with broadcaster JTBC, Kim Kyung-yul, a member of the PPP’s interim leadership, said Yoon or the first lady should “state their position” regarding the handbag controversy, comparing Kim to Marie Antoinette, queen of France in the 17th century.

“Though there are several controversies, the president or the first lady should at least speak about the bag controversy to address the public sentiment,” Kim said. “The French Revolution was an outcome of public uproar over Marie