Ruling party leader denounces hidden recording of first lady

Using 'spycam' to film first lady accepting luxury bag was ‘vulgar,’ says ruling party interim chair

People Power Party interim Chair Han Dong-hoon speaks during a debate hosted by the Kwanhun Club at Korea Press Center in central Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

The ruling party leader on Wednesday criticized the usage of a hidden camera against the first lady for 2022 footage that shows a Korean American pastor giving her a luxury bag, which has sparked suspicions of anti-graft law violations.

“The incident is quintessentially a vulgar operation involving a spycam,” People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon said during a debate hosted by the Kwanhun Club, an association of senior journalists in Seoul.

In footage uploaded by liberal news outlet Voice of Seoul on Nov. 27 last year, first lady Kim Keon Hee is shown accepting a Christian Dior bag worth about 3 million won ($2,250) from a Korean American pastor named Choi Jae-young. The footage, which Choi later admitted having filmed with a spycam in September 2022, raised suspicions that the first lady violated anti-graft legislation that forbids public officials and their spouses from receiving gifts valued at over 1 million won at a time or totaling 3 million won within a year from the same person.

“The bag was purchased to paint the situation," Han contended, pointing to the beginning of the footage that shows Choi buying the bag at a Christian Dior store.

“I believe people are very aware of that. It’s a blatant attempt by a pro-North Korean to attack (the first lady).”

Choi has a history of engagement with North Korea and has visited Pyongyang a handful of times to conduct services at its state-operated churches.

But at the same time, Han reiterated that the situation could have been handled in a better way and that President Yoon Suk Yeol was expected to remark on the issue in a New Year’s interview scheduled to be broadcast later in the day.

Han also lambasted the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s recent attempt to revote to override presidential vetoes of two special investigation bills, one of which seeks to probe stock manipulation allegations against the first lady. The bills were passed by the opposition-led National Assembly late last year, but were soon thrown aside by Yoon.

“The bills are clearly part of (the main opposition’s) election campaign to lure more voters,” the ruling party leader said.

As to questions about whether he plans to run in the next presidential election scheduled for 2027, Han replied that nothing is set in stone.

“It seems my life will go haywire after the April 10 general election this year, whether we win or not,” he said. "I decided to participate despite knowing that."

“It’s why I’m not really thinking about what comes after the general election and I will think about that part of my life when the time comes,” he added.

By Jung Min-kyung(mkjung@heraldcorp.com)