Former residence of South Korea’s Yoon under scrutiny over ‘pet pool’

Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife kept six dogs and five cats until shortly after Yoon was removed as president in April, following a court order

A shallow pool inside South Korea’s presidential residence has sparked a debate among lawmakers over whether it was used by former president Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife for their pets.

There has been increasing speculation that the pool was used for pets and not humans, said Representative Kim Byoung-joo at a meeting held on Monday by the Democratic Party, which became the country’s ruling party following President Lee Jae-myung’s election win last week.

“I’ve looked around the space inside the official residence of the president, and a pool grabbed my attention,” said Kim, who visited the residence in the centre of Seoul along with other Democratic Party lawmakers on Saturday, according to a report by The Korea Herald.

The pool appeared to have a length of five metres long, a width of two metres and a depth of 50cm at the shallow end.

“We should closely examine whether the Yoons installed facilities for personal use with taxpayers’ money after moving into the official residence, where no one can monitor how the money is being spent,” Kim said.

The lawmaker added that Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, were believed to also have a cat tower worth 5 million won (US$3,680).

The couple kept six dogs and five cats until shortly after Yoon was removed from office in April following a court order over his failed martial law attempt in December last year.

Yoon’s former office previously said the pool was “for landscaping purposes to welcome foreign guests”, according to a report by The Korea Times.

The residence was also the subject of an earlier controversy when it was found that water usage began to surge in 2023 after the couple moved in, with the level rising to as high as 2,051 metric tons over August and September last year.

On Monday, Yoon attended a further hearing for his ongoing trial over charges of leading an insurrection and abuse of power. Yoon could face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment or death if he is convicted of insurrection.