Yoon apologizes for wife’s ‘unwise conduct’

May 10, 2024, 09:09 am

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President Yoon Suk-yeol answers reporters’ questions during a press conference marking the second anniversary of his presidency at the presidential office in Seoul on May 9, 2024./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Hong Sun-mi

President Yoon Suk-yeol apologized Thursday for causing public concern with his wife’s “unwise conduct” in relation to First Lady Kim Keon-hee’s acceptance of a luxury bag from a pastor in 2022. This was the first time he publicly apologized for the issue since suspicions were raised in November last year. The president also expressed opposition regarding Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who died in July last year while on a search mission amid heavy downpours, when asked about the push for a special counsel investigation into the military’s response to the Marine’s death.

In a news conference marking his two years in office, Yoon said he apologizes for his wife’s unwise behavior in accepting the Christian Dior bag but refused to elaborate given that a prosecution investigation is already under way into the allegations and his remarks could be misconstrued as trying to influence the probe. However, he objected the opposition’s push to launch a special counsel probe on the issue and a separate allegation about Kim’s involvement in a stock manipulation scandal, describing it as a “political offensive.”

“A special prosecution investigation is only launched after the prosecution and other agencies are determined inadequate,” Yoon said. Calling for another investigation when enough has been done is a “political offensive,” he said.

Yoon expressed a similar position on the opposition’s push to appoint a special counsel to investigate the military’s response to Cpl. Chae Su-geun’s death last year, saying if the ongoing investigation by the police and the Corruption Investigation Office For High-ranking Officials is insufficient, he will be the “first to call for a special counsel probe.”

When asked for the reason for the recent election defeat, Yoon said, “I think the people’s assessment of my running of state affairs until now was that it was greatly lacking.” He vowed to cooperate with the National Assembly in accordance with the people’s order for the government, the ruling party and the opposition to work together.

Yoon fielded questions on a wide range of political, economic, social and foreign policy issues as well in the press conference that lasted more than 70 minutes.

#Yoon Suk-yeol #Kim Keon-hee #apology