SHAMANS, HIGH SCHOOL BUDDIES
Born to a well-to-do family in Seoul, Yoon excelled at school and entered the elite Seoul National University to study law. But his penchant for partying caused him to repeatedly fail the bar exam before passing on the ninth try at age 30.
Yoon shot to national fame in 2016 when, as the chief investigator probing then-President Park Geun-hye for corruption, he was asked if he was out for revenge and responded that prosecutors were not “gangsters”.
The role he played in jailing Park and his surprise appointment as head of the powerful Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office marked the start of a dizzying rise to power.
Two years later, as prosecutor-general, he spearheaded a corruption probe of a close ally of the next president, Moon Jae-in. That made him a darling of conservatives frustrated with Moon’s liberal policies, setting Yoon up to be a candidate for president in 2022.
His term got off to a rocky start when he pushed ahead with moving the presidential office from the traditional Blue House compound to a new site, sparking questions about whether it was because of a feng shui belief that the old compound was cursed. Yoon denied any involvement by himself or his wife with a shaman.
When Yoon refused to fire top officials after a 2022 Halloween crowd crush killed 159 people, he was accused of protecting his “yes men”. One was Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, a graduate of Yoon’s high school.
Another alumnus of the Choongam High School in Seoul was Kim Yong-hyun, who spearheaded the presidential office move, then served as the presidential security service chief and later as defence minister. Kim, the main figure advising Yoon to declare martial law, was also charged with insurrection. He too denies the charges.
Shin Yul, a Myongji University political science professor, said Yoon’s political near-demise was likely due to him listening to the wrong people and that he probably “still thinks he did the right thing” in declaring martial law.
