South Korea’s Yoon defends wife over Dior handbag scandal, rejects China policy concerns in rare interview

The normally media-shy president said first lady Kim Keon-hee had been ‘unable to cold-heartedly reject’ a pastor who gifted her a US$2,200 Dior bag

He also touched on Seoul’s China ties and South Korea’s ability to develop nuclear weapons, in an interview that sparked an opposition backlash

3-MIN READ3-MIN

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at the presidential office in Seoul during the pre-recorded interview with state-financed broadcaster KBS. Photo: South Korea Presidential Office via AP

Published: 10:45am, 8 Feb 2024Updated: 12:04pm, 8 Feb 2024

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding his wife’s acceptance of a luxury gift, stating that she acted out of kindness and fell victim to a “hidden camera sting”.

In a rare interview, the normally media-shy Yoon said first lady Kim Keon-hee was in effect a victim of politically motivated entrapment aimed at hurting the couple’s reputation ahead of crucial parliamentary elections set for April.

Former prime minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and others in the ruling People Power Party have suggested North Korea’s involvement, sparking criticism of a “red scare” tactic to cover up the scandal.

Yoon and his wife Kim Keon-hee arrive in Japan to attend a G7 Leaders’ Summit last year. Photo: AFP

The episode came to light in November last year when a video shot in 2022 appeared on a leftist YouTube channel, showing a South Korea-born American pastor handing Kim a US$2,200 Dior bag at her company’s Seoul office.

The gift giver, Pastor Choi Jae-young, said he had decided to film the interaction to collect evidence of Kim’s supposed corruption after witnessing her talking on the phone to an unknown person to discuss personnel appointments to key government posts, such as the country’s financial watchdog, earlier in 2022.

The two are acquainted, with long-standing ties between their families. Choi is a pro-unification activist who has occasionally visited the North for humanitarian activities and proselytisation.

He used a hidden camera embedded in a watch to capture the footage, which also showed other visitors holding what appeared to be gifts and waiting for their turn to see the first lady.