Yoon's explanation unlikely to quell first lady's Dior bag scandal

President Yoon Suk Yeol visits a traditional market in Gwangjin District, Seoul, Thursday, a day ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. Joint Press Corps

President Yoon Suk Yeol's attempt to address the controversies surrounding his wife Kim Keon Hee's acceptance of a Christian Dior bag from a left-wing pastor has fallen short of the public's expectations, according to political observers, Thursday.

Opposition parties and critics argue that the public anticipated the president to issue a formal apology instead of downplaying the incident by merely expressing regret and reiterating the narrative that it was a political ploy involving a hidden camera.

During a pre-recorded New Year interview with local broadcaster KBS aired on Wednesday night, the president touched on the ongoing controversies about the first lady.

"(The pastor) continuously insisted on the visit. She could not cold-heartedly refuse (the visit and the gift), and that seems to be the issue, if that could be a problem. I personally feel it is a bit regrettable," Yoon said, stressing that it is important to set clearer boundaries to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.

The first lady became embroiled in controversy after a liberal YouTube-based news channel, Voice of Seoul, alleged in November of last year that she received a Dior handbag worth about 3 million won ($2,250) from a Korean American pastor in September 2022. The pastor secretly filmed the scene that took place at Kim's office, using a camera embedded in his watch.

As the issue took center stage in politics, casting a shadow over the ruling People Power Party (PPP) in the lead-up to the April 10 general elections, the president has been under pressure to address the scandal himself by offering a public apology.

But during the interview, Yoon reiterated the stance that it was a spy camera trap, saying, “It was a political ploy because he filmed it secretly by using a camera disguised as a watch. Also, the footage was released a year after the incident ahead of the elections."

But experts said Yoon's comments fell short of the public's expectation of a sincere apology.

"I don't think that the president's explanation, which lacked an official apology, will alleviate public skepticism over the first lady. Plus, certain aspects of the response, like the pastor's connection to the first lady's deceased father, might have been better left unsaid," Park Sang-byeong, a political commentator and professor at Inha University, told The Korea Times, Thursday.

Yoon told KBS that the pastor was from the same hometown as Kim's father, who passed away when she was in middle school. He explained that such a connection would have made it difficult for his wife to sever ties with the pastor.

Eom Kyeong-young, director of the Zeitgeist Institute, a private political think tank, said, "Yoon's response failed to meet the public's expectations of the presidential spouse's ethical standards. Regardless of legal liabilities for accepting the handbag, he should have offered a sincere apology to address negative public sentiment."

PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon commented that the president expressed his candid thoughts.

"I think the president spoke sincerely about it, including measures to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents ... I believe that he empathized with the public's concerns and worries," he told reporters, Thursday, when asked to comment about Yoon's remarks on the first lady the previous night.

But Kim Kyung-yul, a member of the PPP's interim leadership, who had previously urged the first lady to apologize for controversies surrounding her, expressed regret over Yoon's response.

"The president has repeatedly expressed his regrets, and I will echo the same sentiment. It is regrettable," Kim said.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) criticized Yoon for betraying the public's expectations for a sincere apology on behalf of his wife, while the minor New Future Party led by former DPK leader Lee Nak-yon accused public broadcaster KBS for becoming the president's mouthpiece.

"We have witnessed the tragedy of a public broadcaster turning into a PR agency for the president's family," the party said in a statement.

KBS' interview with President Yoon Suk Yeol aired on Wednesday night features the subtitle: "Recent controversies surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee's pouch." Screen capture from KBS

In a subtitle, KBS referred to the Dior handbag as a "pouch," in what critics viewed as the broadcaster's attempt to downplay the scandal.

Park at Inha University pointed out that Yoon's decision to bypass a New Year press conference with the presidential office pool reporters, opting instead for a pre-recorded interview with the public broadcaster, once again highlights the president's limited engagement with the public.

The 100-minute interview did not include thorny questions such as the president's recent decision to veto a special bill allowing a special probe into the Itaewon crowd crush or the failure of Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

A significant portion of the broadcast was devoted to Yoon's renewed commitments to his foreign policies, including mending ties with Japan, strengthening U.S. extended deterrence and maintaining a hawkish stance on North Korea.

This marks the second consecutive year that the president has skipped the traditional New Year press conference. Last year, Yoon gave an interview exclusively with the conservative vernacular Chosun Ilbo.