South Korean shamans slam Yoon Suk-yeol over his ‘sacrilegious’ abuse of their practice
Their criticisms follow the arrest of Jeon Seong-bae, a spiritual adviser linked to Yoon, as part of a corruption probe
Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol is facing disapproval from local shamans over his purported links to a spiritual adviser who is under investigation for corruption.
Yoon, who was removed from office on April 4 following his failed December 3 martial law decree, and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, have been accused of regularly asking shamans for spiritual advice, according to local media.
On Wednesday, prosecutors conducted their first court-approved raid against the couple as part of an investigation into one of their advisers, Jeon Seong-bae, a shaman better known as Monk Kujin.
Members of the country’s “shamanic community” said Yoon had given their practice a bad reputation.
“Shamanism is fundamentally a spiritual practice dedicated to protecting the country,” Lee Sung-jae, head of South Korea’s largest association of shamans, told UK newspaper The Times. “Using it for personal or political gain is sacrilegious.”
Yoon and Kim have long been accused of seeking the advice of shamans on key matters ranging from relocating the presidential office and discussing political strategies to selecting dates for official overseas trips.
Kim, whose doctoral dissertation was on fortune-telling, once told a social media channel that she was a “spiritual person” with a preference for holding discussions with gurus, according to the Yonhap news agency.
During a debate ahead of his 2022 presidential campaign, Yoon denied sporting a talisman on his hand bearing the Chinese character Wang (meaning ‘King’).
Jeon’s link to the couple can be traced to the presidential race, when he helped operate and fund Yoon’s unofficial campaign offices.
Later, Jeon reportedly flaunted his links to Yoon to enhance his business interests, according to The Korea Herald newspaper.
Prosecutors have alleged that a former Unification Church official passed Jeon a diamond necklace worth 60 million won (US$43,000), a designer handbag and ginseng to give to Kim in May 2022. Jeon is reported to have told police that he had lost the necklace.
Another shaman who has also been linked to the couple is Noh Sang-won, a former head of South Korea’s Army Intelligence Command who later became a fortune-teller. Noh was arrested in December for his alleged role in Yoon’s martial-law decree.
Yoon is not the first of the country’s leaders to have faced accusations of tapping shamans for advice. Former president Park Geun-hye, who was impeached and jailed for corruption in 2017, was accused of using a shaman for her political decisions and rituals in the presidential residence.
