‘Dior bag scandal’ puts president’s bid to win upcoming polls at risk



NEW DELHI: President Yoon Suk Yeol and his ruling Individuals Energy Get together (PPP) are dealing with a significant controversy following the discharge of hidden digital camera footage that seems to point out South Korea‘s first woman, Kim Keon Hee, accepting a Dior bag as a present, in response to a Reuters report.
The incident, dubbed the “Dior bag scandal” by native media, has put the president’s bid to reclaim a parliamentary majority in election scheduled for April 10 in danger.
Some members of the PPP have known as for President Yoon and his spouse to apologize for the incident and acknowledge that accepting the purse was inappropriate.
Political analyst Rhee Jong-hoon mentioned, “it’s a political bombshell, and warned “the Kim Keon Hee dangers are solely going to get greater.”
Analysts recommend that Kim’s acceptance of the purse, priced at 3 million gained ($2,250), might have violated an anti-bribery regulation. Supporters of the president argue that Kim is a sufferer of an unlawful plot to set her up and smear her status. The case got here to gentle in November when a YouTube channel aired a secretly recorded video of a Korean American pastor, Reverend Abraham Choi, handing the bag to Kim throughout a go to.
Reverend Choi, who has been concerned in spiritual exchanges with North Korea and advocates for engagement with Pyongyang, claims that he sought a gathering with Kim out of concern for President Yoon’s hardline North Korea coverage. In line with Choi, Kim’s response to discussions about luxurious items led him to consider that such items had been essential to safe a gathering along with her.
Yoon’s workplace declined to touch upon Choi’s claims. An unnamed presidential official advised Yonhap information company that Choi intentionally approached Kim with the intention of illegally filming her utilizing his household connections. The official additionally acknowledged that items to the couple are thought-about property of the federal government.
In the meantime, Kim can be dealing with allegations of inventory value manipulation from round 12 years in the past, and the opposition-controlled parliament lately voted to nominate a particular prosecutor to research the case.
PPP opposed the invoice, viewing it as a plot by the Democratic Get together to hinder an investigation into its chief, Lee Jae-myung, and his corruption costs, which he denies. President Yoon vetoed the invoice, contemplating it politically motivated. In 2021, Kim publicly apologized after allegations of falsified skilled information and plagiarism in her PhD thesis overshadowed Yoon’s presidential marketing campaign.
Some PPP members are involved that public sentiment is targeted on Kim somewhat than the hidden digital camera sting. Tensions between President Yoon’s workplace and the get together escalated when a celebration member Kim Kyung-yul in contrast the state of affairs to Marie Antoinette’s notoriety for her extravagance. Yoon reportedly wished to take away the get together’s chief, Han Dong-hoon, inflicting a short cut up between the president and his protégé.
In line with a latest ballot, 69% of respondents consider President Yoon wants to clarify his place on the controversy surrounding the First Woman. One other ballot performed in December confirmed that 53% of respondents believed Kim acted inappropriately, whereas 27% believed she was caught in a entice.
In the meantime, Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji College mentioned, “Most of the people thinks, ‘okay, it might be a entice, however why did she take it (the bag) anyway?'”
President Yoon gained a intently contested election in 2022, however his get together is at present a minority in parliament, which is managed by the rival Democratic Get together.





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