09-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
A second Kim Keon-hee? South Korea's presidential race marred by superstition allegations
South Korea's presidential race has been shaken by allegations that the wife of conservative front runner and former acting president Han Duck-soo is deeply involved in superstitious practices – claims Han has strongly denied.
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The controversy has drawn comparisons to past accusations against former first lady Kim Keon-hee, wife of impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol, whose alleged ties to shamanistic beliefs sparked public backlash amid concerns that spiritual advisers might be influencing key state decisions.
The latest claims were made by Park Jie-won, a veteran lawmaker from the progressive Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). In a bombshell statement he made on a radio news show on April 15, Park described Han's wife, Choi Ah-young, as a 'mother of superstition'.
While criticising Han as 'indecisive, timid, and politically untrained', Park alleged that both Choi and Kim had achieved a 'considerable level of shamanism' and were 'highly ambitious politically'.
'When it comes to shamanism, however, Han's wife is not merely a second Kim Keon-hee – she is her mother in superstition, metaphorically speaking,' Park said during multiple radio interviews and YouTube appearances.
Park Jie-won (right) served as chief of the National Intelligence Service under liberal president Moon Jae-in. Photo： EPA-EFE/Yonhap
He claimed personal familiarity with the Han couple, citing his past role as head of the late president Kim Dae-jung's secretariat while Han served as an economic aide there.
