Yoon rejects South Korean opposition calls for special investigations against his wife and top officials

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president on Thursday rejected calls for an independent investigation into allegations against his wife and top officials, drawing swift, sharp rebukes from his political rivals.

After his conservative ruling party suffered a heavy defeat in the recent April 10 general election, President Yoon Suk Yeol faces his biggest political challenge yet as opposition parties would extend their control of the National Assembly until 2028.

The opposition has recently stepped up its call for an independent investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee over various scandals, such as her alleged involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme and the release of spy camera footage showing her receiving a luxury bag from a Korean American pastor.

In a press conference to mark his two-year term, Yoon said he apologized for what he called my wife’s “unwise behavior” in accepting the Christian Dior bag, but declined to elaborate as the scandal is currently ongoing be investigated by the public prosecutor.

Yoon called the call for a new special investigation into Kim’s stock price allegations a political offensive since Kim was neither charged nor convicted under investigations that began when the Democratic Party was in power. Yoon had already vetoed a bill in January that called for the appointment of an independent lawyer to investigate his wife’s stock price allegations.

During Thursday’s conference, Yoon also made it clear that he opposes another push by the Democratic Party for a special investigation into the death of a Marine who drowned while searching for flood victims in 2023.

Yoon called the Marine’s death heartbreaking, but stressed that police and an anti-corruption investigation agency had already investigated the case. Yoon said he would agree to a new independent investigation if police and the anti-corruption investigation agency failed to clear public suspicions in the case. Questions remain about why the Navy was mobilized without security equipment and whether the government tried to prevent senior officials from being held accountable.

Last week, the opposition-controlled parliament passed a bill calling for an independent investigation into the death after ruling party members boycotted a plenary vote in protest.

Later Thursday, Democratic Party leader Park Chan-dae criticized Yoon for rejecting his call for a special investigation into the Marine’s death. “I can’t help but wonder if he has any understanding of the public’s outrage over the Marine’s wrongful death,” Park said.

Party spokesman Han Min-soo also said Yoon’s opposition to his wife’s new investigations proves she is “a refuge” in criminal investigations.

Despite the election defeat, Yoon’s main foreign policy agenda is likely to remain unchanged as he does not require parliamentary approval. Yoon has made a strengthened military alliance with the United States the centerpiece of his foreign policy while pushing to expand trilateral cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo to address North Korea’s nuclear threats and other challenges.

During Thursday’s conference, Yoon criticized North Korea’s alleged arms exports to Russia to further its warfare in Ukraine and stressed that Seoul would stick to its policy of providing only non-lethal assistance to Ukraine.

“We have a very clear policy that we will not provide lethal offensive weapons to either side in active conflicts,” Yoon said.

Since the start of the war, South Korea has sold artillery shells to the United States, saying the shells were intended to replenish depleted U.S. stocks. The country also signed several arms deals with European powers seeking to bolster their defenses after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“North Korea’s export of these weapons is not only an illegal activity in support of the war in Ukraine, but also a clear violation of the UN Security Council resolutions on the North Korean nuclear issue,” Yoon said. “We are therefore taking the necessary measures in coordination with the United Nations and the international community.”