The incident even went as far as to make this party predicted to lose public support ahead of the parliamentary elections in April 2024. Yoon was reported to have clashed with party members regarding how to respond to a video of his wife, Kim Keon-hee, receiving a Christian Dior handbag in September 2022.

According to the local newspaper Hankyoreh, a public opinion poll published this week shows that 70% of South Koreans want Yoon to address this issue. "This is serious and cannot be ignored. I have seen cases where negative issues that are not handled well before elections ultimately affect voter sentiment," said Ahn Cheol-soo, a member of the Republican Party, from the PPP in a radio interview yesterday, Tuesday.

In the video circulating on social media, it appears to have been secretly recorded by Korean-American pastor Choi Jae-young. The video was first posted by the left-wing media site Voice of Seoul News on November.

The recording shows Choi, behind the camera, walking to the Christian Dior store to buy a handbag with a receipt showing its price as 3 million won. The video then continues to show Choi walking to Covana Contents office, an exhibition planning company in Seoul owned by First Lady Kim.

In the office, he met the First Lady Kim Keon-hee and gave her the Dior bag. Kim then was heard responding in Korean, "Don't keep doing this. Never buy something this expensive." Korea Herald reported that the Presidential office confirmed Kim's receipt of the bag and stated that the bag is "managed and kept as government property."

According to the South Korean Anti-Corruption Act, it is illegal for public officials and their spouses to receive gifts worth more than 1 million Korean won ($750) at once or a total of 3 million won in one fiscal year. Source: Time.com/Korea Times.