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Reuters
7 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
South Korea's former first lady 'sorry' about graft probe that plagued Yoon presidency
SEOUL, Aug 6 (Reuters) - South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee apologised on Wednesday as she appeared for questioning by investigators on a string of corruption charges that plagued her husband's term before it ended abruptly, calling herself "a nobody." Both Kim and ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol are under separate investigations by special prosecutors appointed after he was impeached and then removed from office for briefly declaring martial law. Kim has been the subject of numerous high-profile scandals, some dating back more than 15 years, which overshadowed Yoon's turbulent presidency and inflicted political damage on him and his conservative party. "I am truly sorry that a nobody like myself has caused concern for everyone in the country," Kim said as she entered the office of the special prosecutor. She did not answer reporters' questions about the charges against her. South Korea has a long history of investigations into alleged wrongdoing by high-profile figures including former presidents and family-owned conglomerate leaders. Many have made similar expressions of remorse that are not necessarily considered an admission of guilt. Yoon, a career prosecutor who rose to the head of the powerful service before entering politics, was a senior investigator for an earlier special prosecutor's team that jailed former President Park Geun-hye for corruption in 2017. Kim faces a long list of charges including stock fraud, bribery and illegal influence peddling that have implicated big business owners, religious figures and a political power broker. The charges are punishable by years in prison. Before Yoon's election in 2022 and under intense political pressure even from his own party, Kim stood before cameras to apologise for falsifying her academic records and promised to behave as a responsible spouse of a national leader. Allegations of wrongdoing did not fade as Yoon narrowly won the presidency and served a tumultuous term marred by a bitter row with the main opposition party which had control of parliament and kept up pressure on the first family to come clean on Kim's personal scandals. When hidden camera footage that appeared to show Kim accepting a Christian Dior bag as a gift, Yoon refused to say it may have been illegal or inappropriate. After a review, the state prosecutors' office decided not to charge her. Since Yoon's ouster and with the appointment of special prosecutors, the probe against Kim intensified, reopening a case of stock fraud dating back to 2009 which had been previously closed by state prosecutors for insufficient cause. The charges against her include whether she broke the law by wearing a luxury Van Cleef pendant reportedly priced more than 60 million won ($43,200) on the first couple's trip to the NATO summit in 2022. The item was not listed in the Yoons' financial disclosure as required by law, according to the charge. She is also accused of receiving two Chanel bags together valued at 20 million won and a diamond necklace from a religious group as a bribe in return for influence favourable to business interests it was pursuing. An artwork valued at several million dollars and tens of thousands of dollars in cash seized by the special prosecutor's team are also linked to her, according to media reports that have extensively covered her travails. In a message to reporters, Kim's lawyers in late July denied the allegations against her and said news reports about some of the gifts she allegedly received were groundless speculation. Yoon is on trial on insurrection charges facing up to life imprisonment or the death penalty for his failed attempt to impose military rule in December that plunged the country into a political crisis and a power vacuum that lasted six months. Yoon has described the special prosecutor's probe against him as a political witch hunt and since being jailed on July 10 over the risk he will try to tamper with evidence, has refused to cooperate with the investigation or attend the insurrection trial. ($1 = 1,389.1000 won)
NHK
13-06-2025
- Politics
- NHK
Poll shows 70% of South Koreans expect new president to perform well
The latest opinion poll shows that 70 percent of South Koreans expect the country's new President Lee Jae-myung to perform well during his five-year term. Gallup Korea has released the results of its first poll about Lee, who took office on June 4. The survey of 1,000 people was conducted from Tuesday through Thursday. When asked how Lee will execute his presidential duties during his term, seven out of ten respondents said that they expect him to perform well, while 24 percent said the opposite. When a similar poll was conducted about former President Yoon Suk-yeol, 60 percent of the respondents said that they had high expectations of him. But Lee's figure was lower than those of other former presidents. Moon Jae-in scored 87 percent in his poll, while both Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak received 79 percent in their surveys. Lee did not have a transition period before he was sworn in, as former President Yoon Suk-yeol had been removed from office. Lee has not yet filled all of his Cabinet posts. Observers are waiting to see whom Lee will pick for ministerial positions, and how he and his administration members will perform their duties.
Free Malaysia Today
30-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
South Korea's conservative party in crisis before vote
Former president Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment made him the second straight conservative president to be stripped of office. (AP pic) SEOUL : Accused of being complicit in insurrection and with its last two presidents both impeached, South Korea's conservative party is in crisis and heading towards likely defeat in Tuesday's snap election. South Korea will vote to choose a successor to the People Power Party's disgraced former president Yoon Suk Yeol, whose removal from office threw the country into turmoil. Yoon's impeachment over a disastrous declaration of martial law, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament, made him the second straight conservative president to be stripped of office after Park Geun-hye in 2017. Analysts say a reckoning has been brewing for years – as the party has not thoroughly addressed its links to the country's authoritarian past. 'It's fair to say that the current political crisis in South Korea was already under way when Park Geun-hye won the election in 2012,' said Minseon Ku, a postdoctoral researcher at the William & Mary Global Research Institute. Former president Park's father, Park Chung-hee, was a military dictator who ruled the country with an iron fist for more than 15 years. Running for Saenuri, a predecessor of the PPP, Park tapped into nostalgia for the rapid economic growth of her father's authoritarian era. But critics say this is no way for the party to win long-term support in the democratic South, pointing to the growing fragmentation of the right, which has drawn in anti-feminist young men and extreme religious figures, but lost much of the middle. The PPP is now facing an 'ideological identity crisis', Ku told AFP. Yoon, a former star prosecutor, was a political novice when he became the PPP's presidential candidate – a sign the party had failed even then to cultivate in-house talent capable of appealing to a broad cross-section of society, analysts say. Yoon won the 2022 election by the narrowest margin in South Korean history, defeating the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung – who is now the clear frontrunner for the June 3 vote. During that campaign, Yoon sparked controversy by saying that former president Chun Doo-hwan – a military dictator responsible for the 1980 Gwangju massacre – was 'quite good at politics in many people's view'. On Dec 3, 2024, Yoon tried to suspend civilian rule, justifying his bid as necessary to break legislative gridlock and 'root out' pro-North Korean, 'anti-state' forces. PPP lawmakers initially refused to join an opposition-led vote to impeach him, but after days of mass street protests enough of them defected to allow the motion to pass. Weeks later, when prosecutors moved to arrest Yoon on insurrection charges, some PPP lawmakers physically intervened to block authorities from entering his residence. The party's former leader, Han Dong-hoon – once a Yoon ally – faced an intense internal backlash for publicly opposing Yoon's martial law attempt. Its current presidential candidate, Kim Moon-soo – Yoon's former labour minister – rose to public attention for refusing to join a cabinet-wide apology bow over the failure to stop martial law. Critics have repeatedly called for the PPP's dissolution, with the DP's candidate branding it 'a party of insurrection and military rebellion'. All major polls place liberal candidate Lee as the clear frontrunner for the June 3 vote, and given the retaliatory nature of South Korean politics, experts say his victory could further accelerate the PPP's downward spiral. The party 'lost the moral high ground due to the insurrection', said Byunghwan Ben Son, a professor at George Mason University. It 'now faces significant legal burdens as investigations into various corruption charges involving Yoon and his wife continue', he added. The new government 'could also file a constitutional review of the PPP', he told AFP, which could potentially lead to the party's dissolution. The party has also faced sharp criticism from its own former leaders, with one of them, Lee Jun-seok, now running with a separate party and refusing to unite with the PPP against the DP's Lee. Lee's Democratic Party already holds a parliamentary majority, and analysts say the fractured conservative base will struggle in opposition unless it can resolve its issues. The PPP will become a relic unless it succeeds in 'rebranding itself and distancing itself from its unsavoury past', said Vladimir Tikhonov from the University of Oslo. If Lee wins, 'I won't be surprised if the PPP splits, with influential bosses and faction heads leaving the sinking ship,' the Korea studies professor told AFP.
