Questionable ties

Thorough investigation needed to unearth truth

President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, have sparked controversy due to alleged connections with a pollster and self-proclaimed power broker. Depending on how this latest allegation unfolds, it could significantly undermine Yoon’s presidency or, as some of his opponents hope, even cut it short.

The onus now lies with prosecutors, who must conduct a thorough investigation, leaving no room for doubt or suspicion.

The presidential couple has become a source of concern for the ruling camp, which is struggling with the fallout from a leaked phone conversation between Yoon and pollster Myung Tae-kyun on May 9, 2022 — just a day before Yoon’s inauguration — as well as a series of allegations involving the first lady.

On that day, Yoon, who was president-elect, and Myung spoke over the phone as the pollster sought to confirm the status of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun in the People Power Party's (PPP) candidate selection for the upcoming by-elections. Myung lobbied the presidential couple to support Kim's bid in the party’s internal selection process.

Yoon informed the pollster that he had urged the PPP's selection committee to consider Kim as its candidate, emphasizing that she deserved it for her hard work during the primaries. “I learned that there’s some backlash against her within the party, though,” Yoon noted. The following day, Kim was selected as the PPP's candidate and subsequently won the by-election on June 1 in the southeastern industrial city of Changwon.

Myung reportedly established connections with the presidential couple while his polling agency conducted opinion surveys during Yoon's campaign in the PPP's primaries for the 2022 presidential election. His company carried out numerous public opinion polls without charging candidates or outside institutions, which led to significant financial deficits. He is accused of fabricating poll results in Yoon's favor, a claim that Myung has denied. Leveraging his personal ties with the presidential couple, Myung lobbied them to help Kim in win the PPP's internal selection. In return, Kim is accused of paying Myung to help cover some of his polling agency's financial shortfalls.

Yoon's already low approval rating declined further following media reports about the scandal. A Gallup poll released on Friday revealed that his approval rating dropped to a record low of 19 percent, down one percentage point from the previous week. The poll surveyed 1,005 adults between Oct. 29 and 31, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Yoon's alleged influence-peddling gaffe provided timely ammunition for the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) as it sought justification to impeach the sitting president. The DPK organized a large rally near Seoul Station on Saturday to politicize the issue. In his speech at the event, DPK Chairman Lee Jae-myung described the current political situation as akin to an emergency, urging the ruling party to cooperate in establishing a special counsel to investigate the allegations surrounding the first lady. While Lee refrained from explicitly mentioning impeachment due to concerns about a potential backlash, DPK lawmakers asserted that the case is serious enough to warrant the impeachment of the sitting president.

It remains uncertain whether Yoon's promotion of Kim as a potential candidate in the PPP's internal selection process constitutes a violation of the Election Law, which prohibits government officials from meddling in elections.

Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-seok claimed that Yoon made the remark when he was president-elect. Currently, he said there are no laws requiring a president-elect to maintain political neutrality. Citing a precedent set by the Supreme Court, the presidential chief of staff added that expressing a view in favor of the selection of a certain candidate is not a violation of the Election Law.

However, the central issue is whether the PPP's selection of Kim as its candidate was a quid pro quo for the pollster's numerous “free” opinion surveys conducted for Yoon. Investigators must uncover the truth behind these allegations.