Yoon's wife Kim Keon Hee was secretly filmed with a hidden camera accepting an expensive handbag from a third party. The ensuing controversy has also left the conservative president politically entangled.
Yoon said Thursday that his wife had behaved unwisely at the time and that her behavior had caused unrest, for which he apologized.
His comments came in Yun's first press conference since August 2022, and several weeks after his party's crushing defeat in April's general election.
The scandal involving the First Lady was also seen as one of the factors that helped determine the outcome of the election.
Yoon, who previously served as Attorney General of South Korea, rejected calls from the political opposition for additional special investigations into the handbag scandal.
The incident is already under investigation, he said, and dismissed the demand for a special prosecutor as a "political maneuver."
YouTube channel Voice of Seoul published a video in November that purportedly showed Kim accepting a designer handbag worth about three million won (about $2,200) from a pastor in Seoul.
It is said that the priest worked for a YouTube channel and during his meeting with Kim, he was wearing a hidden camera in his watch.
The channel accused Kim of violating an anti-corruption law, although it is unclear whether she actually violated the law, which requires a direct connection between her behavior and her husband's political office. .
svn
Yoon said Thursday that his wife had behaved unwisely at the time and that her behavior had caused unrest, for which he apologized.
His comments came in Yun's first press conference since August 2022, and several weeks after his party's crushing defeat in April's general election.
The scandal involving the First Lady was also seen as one of the factors that helped determine the outcome of the election.
Yoon, who previously served as Attorney General of South Korea, rejected calls from the political opposition for additional special investigations into the handbag scandal.
The incident is already under investigation, he said, and dismissed the demand for a special prosecutor as a "political maneuver."
YouTube channel Voice of Seoul published a video in November that purportedly showed Kim accepting a designer handbag worth about three million won (about $2,200) from a pastor in Seoul.
It is said that the priest worked for a YouTube channel and during his meeting with Kim, he was wearing a hidden camera in his watch.
The channel accused Kim of violating an anti-corruption law, although it is unclear whether she actually violated the law, which requires a direct connection between her behavior and her husband's political office. .
svn
