Tag: Kim Keon-hee

President Yoon sorta of gives an apology for the handbag-gate political setup:

President Yoon Suk Yeol apologized Thursday for what he called the “unwise conduct” of first lady Kim Keon Hee, referring to allegations she illegally accepted a luxury bag in 2022.

It was his clearest expression of regret yet since video emerged online last year appearing to show the first lady accepting a Christian Dior handbag, valued at around 3 million won (US$2,200), from a Korean American pastor armed with a hidden camera.

“I apologize for causing concern to the people with the unwise conduct of my wife,” Yoon said during a press conference marking the second anniversary of his presidency, which falls on Friday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the First Lady early in the administration was still living in their private home without a staff that would normally vet and advise on visits like this. When Kim Keon-hee was given the bag she seemed surprised which demonstrates she was not expecting it and thought this was only going to be a meeting with a pastor her father supposedly knew. 

The fact this camera trap was executed early in Yoon’s presidency in 2022, but released shortly before the 2024 elections shows how this was a political setup to infleunce the parliamentary elections which it successfully did.

Here are some interesting comments from President Yoon on the First Lady’s handbag scandal:

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that first lady Kim Keon Hee failed to “cold-heartedly reject” a visitor armed with a hidden camera, speaking for the first time on allegations she accepted a luxury handbag from the man in 2022.

Yoon said in an interview with KBS TV that the bag was given to her as a “political maneuver” as it was filmed with a camera hidden inside a watch and the footage was only released last year ahead of an election year.

“The fact that she was unable to cold-heartedly reject him was the problem, if one can call it a problem, and it is a little regrettable,” he said. The interview was filmed on Sunday and aired Wednesday night.

Yonhap

Here are the details on how this was a planned political setup:

Yoon had come under growing pressure to address the allegations surrounding the first lady, even as his office maintained the Christian Dior bag, valued at around 3 million won (US$2,200), was given to her by a Korean American pastor in September 2022 as part of a premeditated hidden camera trap.

The issue was seen as a liability for the ruling party ahead of the April 10 parliamentary elections, as the incident occurred after Yoon took office as president in May 2022.

Yoon said in the interview that the incident took place when the couple were still living at their private apartment unit in southern Seoul, where his wife kept an office in the basement, before moving into the new presidential residence.

He suggested the pastor visited her at the office after claiming to have had ties with her late father and insisting that they meet.

“From now on, now that we have moved into the residence, not only will such things be managed well, but I think we will have to be clear so as not to cause any misunderstandings or anxieties or concerns among the people,” he said.

You can read more at the link, but the First Lady early in the administration was still living in their private home without a staff that would normally vet and advise on visits like this. When Kim Keon-hee was given the bag she seemed surprised which demonstrates she was not expecting it and thought this was only going to be a meeting with a pastor her father supposedly knew.

The fact this camera trap was executed early in Yoon’s presidency in 2022, but released shortly before the 2024 elections shows how this was a political setup to infleunce the upcoming election. President Yoon has made it clear there is a process in place now to prevent political setups like this from happening again.

Even though Korea’s First Lady was setup to create a political scandal, she should not have accepted the handbag and that is what President Yoon should have stated shortly after this whole issue erupted:

This photo shows first lady Kim Keon Hee sending a prayer at a Catholic church in Sorokdo island in South Jeolla Province during her visit there in November. (Presidential office)

President Yoon Suk Yeol is facing mounting pressure to clarify his stance regarding the revelation of an alleged graft case involving first lady Kim Keon Hee.

A Gallup Korea’s poll on Friday showed that 63 percent of South Korean people disapproved of Yoon’s performance in the fourth week of January, up 5 percentage points from the week before.

Yoon’s disapproval rating has hit its highest point in nine months since April 2023, when his remarks suggested that the past during Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula in the early 20th century, including forced labor conscription, should be left behind. His approval rating also came to 31 percent, his lowest in three months.

Controversy surrounding Kim’s alleged breach of the Improper Solicitations Act, and Yoon’s poor communication with the public, were two of the three major reasons respondents to a recent poll gave for their disapproval of Yoon’s performance, along with high costs of living.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It appears the whole Dior handbag scandal involving Korea’s first lady, Kim Keon-hee was a setup with a spy cam and a acquaintance giving Korea’s first lady the hand bag with her responding “Why do you keep bringing me these things?”:

Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Hwang Un-ha speaks as the controversial video footage of first lady Kim Keon Hee accepting a Christian Dior bag from a pastor is being shown in the background during a meeting of the National Policy Committee at the National Assembly in Seoul on Monday. (Yonhap)

When a YouTube video of South Korea’s first lady receiving a Dior handbag went viral last year, it initially made few waves in mainstream news media.

In the weeks before April’s general election, the footage has become a wedge that is straining relationships among People Power Party lawmakers, as well as a piece of political ammunition for the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.

Opposition lawmakers have been raising their suspicions that first lady Kim Keon Hee violated anti-graft legislation that forbids public officials and their spouses from receiving gifts valued at one million won ($748) at a time or a total of three million in a single year from the same person. (…….)

Kim is featured in the 86-minute video for less than a minute, as the rest of the video is filled with commentaries and discussions among panels. Wearing a casual T-shirt, she asks Choi, who visited her at the headquarters of her company Covana Contents located in southern Seoul, “Why do you keep bringing me these things?”

The box of the Dior handbag is shown perched up on the coffee table between Kim and Choi next to glasses filled with water, but the video does not show Kim accepting the gift. It was revealed that Kim had accepted the gift through a statement released by the presidential office and ruling party which said the bag was “being managed and stored as a property of the government.”

The footage was filmed with a spy cam in September last year, Choi admitted through a press conference held at the National Assembly on Monday. Choi said he was able to meet Kim because he shared an acquaintance with her father.

Choi claimed that he decided to film the video to expose how Kim was abusing her power as the first lady.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

The Korean left continues their crusade against President Yoon’s wife:

The state anti-corruption agency said Thursday that it is looking into allegations that first lady Kim Keon Hee improperly received a high-end designer bag from a pastor last year. 

A liberal YouTube-based news channel had previously claimed that the wife of President Yoon Suk Yeol had been gifted the Christian Dior bag valued at around 3 million won (US$2,200) by the Korean American pastor and released a video recording of the incident.

A civic group later filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, requesting an investigation into Kim for the alleged violation of anti-graft laws.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It seems eating dog meat is close to being eradicated in South Korea as it is. In the past twenty years it has become hard to even find restaurants that serve it:

First lady Kim Keon Hee said she would work with animal activists until the dog meat industry was eradicated in Korea, continuing her campaign to promote awareness of animal rights.

“We all know how we came forward today with a heart filled with sadness and urgency. Here, all of you are giving everything to save these small lives, but there are animals out there dying so cruelly and unbearably that it’s truly hard to watch,” she said as she appeared at a press conference held by local animal rights activists on Wednesday.

“I will become friends with these individuals and work tirelessly until the consumption of dog meat is banned. I promise,” she said.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.