Seoul:

Hidden cameras apparently showing South Korea’s first lady accepting a luxury brand handbag have plunged South Korea’s President Yoon Seok-yeol into controversy, threatening his party’s election prospects in April.

The incident, dubbed the “Dior bag scandal” by local newspapers, triggered a plunge in Yoon’s already low approval ratings and sparked a firestorm within his party, just months before crucial April polls in which they hoping to regain a majority in parliament.

AFP takes a look at what we know:

what happened?

A left-leaning pastor who disapproves of Yoon Eun-hye’s hawkish North Korea policy and claims to be concerned about the first lady’s influence on the government recorded on his watch that he presented Kim Kun-hee with a $2,200 designer handbag.

The first lady, a self-described animal lover known internationally for her campaign to ban the eating of dog meat in South Korea, told the pastor: “Please do not buy such expensive items.”

But she is not seen returning the bag in the video, which was first posted last year by a left-wing YouTube channel critical of Yin. The pastor also claimed he gave her expensive cosmetics as a gift at their last meeting.

The gift would violate South Korean law, which prohibits public officials and their spouses from accepting gifts worth more than $750.

The president’s office declined AFP’s request for comment and said the bag was being “stored in accordance with relevant regulations”.

Why now?

For weeks, the ruling party ignored the bag incident, and neither the president nor his wife spoke publicly about it.

But Kim Kyung-yeol, a member of Yoon’s party, last month likened the situation to that of French Queen Marie Antoinette, who was known for her lavish lifestyle.

Local media reports speculated that Yoon was furious and hoped to oust the party leader, although other lawmakers lined up to defend the first lady, denouncing a “smear campaign” and accusing the pastor of “evil intentions.”

Why did the pastor do this?

Pastor Choi Jae-young favors better relations with Pyongyang and has visited North Korea several times in the past. He said he decided to film the meeting with the first lady after becoming concerned about her power within the Oval Office.

He claimed at the press conference that at an earlier meeting he saw Kim directing the appointment of a senior financial official during a phone conversation.

“I was shocked to see Kim Jong Il wielding power as if she was in charge of official appointments,” Choi said.

The YouTube channel filmed the entire process of purchasing a Dior bag at a luxury store in Seoul to show its price, before the priest presented it to Kim.

Is this fair?

A column in the widely read Dong-A Ilbo newspaper on Tuesday said that while secret filming was used to “entrap” the first lady, she “received items she should not have received.”

“I wonder if the public had this much interest in Dior bags before.”

This is not the first time Kim Jong Un has faced public scrutiny. During Yoon’s presidential campaign, she was forced to apologize for forging documents.

She also faces accusations of stock manipulation, and the opposition-controlled legislature passed a special bill calling for an investigation that was later vetoed by her husband.

But lawyer and political commentator Yoo Jung-hoon told AFP the claims failed to capture the public imagination in the same way as the handbag video, possibly because “stock manipulation inherently involves complex legal and technical terms” that are not as easy to understand.

“Everyone knows Dior, and there’s even direct footage of the meeting, making it easy for the public to understand,” he said.

What about elections?

The Dior bag scandal has dealt a blow to Yoon’s already low approval ratings, and analysts say it could hurt his party’s prospects in April.

According to a recent survey by local broadcaster YTN, some 70% believe he needs to address the issue.

Commentator Yoo said the incident could have been contained if Yoon had explained earlier, but now it could “undermine support for Yoon and his party ahead of the April election.”

The first lady herself has not spoken publicly in more than a month, even though lawmakers approved the dog meat ban in early January — a major public relations win for her after a lengthy campaign.

Cho Ki-seok, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University, said that in Korean culture, “public officials attach great importance to separating official behavior from personal matters.”

“It’s hard to see the Dior bag controversy as a gender issue. I think Yoon will eventually apologize for it because without his apology, his party won’t be able to do much in the campaign to win.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)