Photo: Former president Yoon Suk-yeol (right) and Kim Geon-hee, c. 2023. Credit: Office of the President.
The Roman Emperor Nero hosted wild bacchanalia in his rotating grand banquet hall; the Chinese tyrant King Zhou supposedly outfitted his palace with a Lake of Wine and a Forest of Meat. According to investigators, Yoon Suk-yeol 윤석열 and his wife Kim Geon-hee 김건희 knew how to party too.
Under Yoon, South Korea’s presidential plane ROKAF 1 flew stocked with ten 750 mL bottles - double the regular size - of Chamiseul 참이슬 soju, according to reports from the presidential security office cited by Democratic Party legislator Yun Geon-yeong 윤건영. Yoon, an avid drinker of alcohol, was notorious for summoning chaebol leaders on international trips and forcing them to drink until they had to be carried out.
If Yoon chased shots, his wife Kim Geon-hee 김건희 apparently chased “experiences.” According to an investigation by Democratic Assembly Member Kim Seong-hoe 김성회, the former First Lady held a previously undisclosed tea party in September 2024 at Jongmyo 종묘, a UNESCO-listed site with a shrine for Joseon Dynasty 조선왕조 kings that is unavailable for private use. Also in August 2023, the presidential couple marshaled seven naval ships for a boat party that included a specially arranged fireworks display off the southern coast near Geoje-do island 거제도.
