A president totally detached from reality

If the president dilly-dallies on clearing deepening suspicions, he can hardly run the government smoothly.

In a special interview with KBS on Wednesday, President Yoon Suk Yeol simply said it is regrettable that his wife had received a luxury handbag from an outsider four months after his election as president. After the pre-recorded interview was aired, the governing People Power Party (PPP) keeps mum about his weird response. PPP interim leader Han Dong-hoon and floor leader Yun Jae-ok didn’t say anything about it in an emergency committee meeting the next day. A senior spokesperson even shunned answering questions from reporters about the president’s dry reaction.

Even the PPP is embarrassed over the obscure comment the president made 70 days after the controversy erupted last November. Clearly, the suspicious pastor — who had acclaimed North Korea and called the Yoon Suk Yeol administration “a puppet regime” — stealthily approached the first lady, citing his relationship with her late father, with a hidden camera. Certainly, the malicious stunt was orchestrated by an anti-government news outlet. And yet, the first lady took a Dior handbag and went on to express her willingness to get involved in inter-Korean affairs, including unification of the divided land.

Public suspicion kicks in from that point. And yet, the president only emphasized a “political ploy” targeting his wife and avoided any explicit apology on his wife’s behalf. “She may have found it difficult to refuse the present,” he said. “Regrettably, she could not coldly reject the meeting with the pastor.” There is a big gap between his mind and the public’s over the sensitive issue.

Asked if he would reappoint a special inspector dealing with affairs related to his family, the president tersely said, “It is up to the National Assembly.” Yoon also seemed to be reluctant to accept a proposal to reestablish an auxiliary office handling his wife’s schedules. The first lady’s activities cannot be managed by the presidential couple alone. Official oversight and management is a must. If the second auxiliary office is opened, lawmakers can summon its staff if anything goes wrong. The Board of Audit and Inspection also can audit the office. But the president said, “It will not help prevent such happenings.”

Yoon should have cleared lingering doubts about his wife in the interview he substituted for an open press conference. His approval rating of 29 percent reflects the widening gap between the president and the people in recognizing the gravity of the case. If Yoon sticks with such an attitude totally detached from the people, the PPP interim leader must press on an effective mechanism to manage the risks from the first lady. If the president dilly-dallies on clearing deepening suspicions, he can hardly run the government smoothly, not to mention helping his minority party lose in the election just two months away. .