The disapproval rating for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol reached its highest level in just around nine months in a major poll amid raising questions over whether the First Lady wrongly got a designer bag. The disapproval rate for Mr Yoon increased to 63 per cent from 58 per cent in a weekly tracking poll by Gallup Korea released on Jan 26. The polling group recognised the “problem” around the First Lady as one of the drivers for the rise in the rate.
The incident has cast a shadow over the President as his conservative People Power Party (PPP) is trying to wrest control of Parliament in an April election. Mr Yoon has yet to speak publicly about a video that appeared to show his wife Kim Keon-hee getting a Christian Dior bag, valued at about US$2,200 (S$2,950), from a Korean-American pastor in September 2022. The video was taken with a hidden camera and was viral on the YouTube channel of a liberal political group, Yonhap News reported.
PPP governer Han Dong-hoon said the video revealed what seemed to be deliberate entrapment. Mr Han said that there were aspects of it that could lead to concern among the public, which briefly resulted to some friction with Mr Yoon, Yonhap and other local media reported. Members of the Democratic Party have targeted the First Lady, and the party used its majority in Parliament to push through a measure calling for a special investigation into allegations of stock manipulation. Mr Yoon vetoed the measure, and his wife has rejected any wrongdoing.