Yoon rejects South Korean opposition's calls for special investigation of his wife and top officials

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president on Thursday dismissed calls for independent investigations into allegations involving his wife and top officials, drawing quick, strong rebukes from his political rivals.

After his conservative ruling party suffered a heavy loss in the recent April 10 parliamentary elections, President Yoon Suk Yeol faces what appears to be his biggest political challenge yet as opposition parties would extend their control of the National Assembly to 2028.

The opposition has recently stepped up its demand for an independent investigation into first lady Kim Keon Hee over various scandals, such as her alleged involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme and the release of spy camera footage showing her receiving a luxury bag from a Korean American pastor.

In a news conference marking his two years in office, Yoon said he apologizes for what he calls “my wife’s unwise behavior” in accepting the Christian Dior bag but refused to elaborate because the scandal is under investigation by prosecutors.

Yoon described the demand for a new, special investigation on Kim’s shares price allegation as a political offensive, as Kim wasn’t charged or convicted from investigations that began when the Democratic Party was in power. Yoon already in January had vetoed a bill calling for the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate his wife’s stock price allegation.

During Thursday’s conference, Yoon also made it clear that he opposes another Democratic Party-led push for a special investigation into suspicions surrounding the death of a marine who drowned during a search for flood victims in 2023.

Yoon called the marine’s death heartbreaking, but stressed that police and an anti-corruption investigation agency have already been examining the case. Yoon said he would approve a new independent investigation if police and the anti-corruption investigation agency fail to address public suspicions over the case. Questions over why the marine was mobilized without safety gear and whether the government tried to prevent top officials from being held accountable have persisted.

Last week, the opposition-controlled parliament passed a bill calling for an independent investigation of the death, after ruling party members boycotted a floor vote in protest.

Later Thursday, the Democratic Party’s floor leader, Park Chan-dae, lambasted Yoon for rejecting its call for the special investigation of the marine’s death. “I can’t help questioning whether he sympathizes with the public indignant over the wrongful death of the marine at all,” Park said.

Party spokesperson Han Min-soo also said Yoon’s opposition to his wife’s new investigation proves she is “a sanctuary” in criminal investigations.

Despite the election defeat, Yoon’s major foreign policy agenda is likely to be unchanged as he does not need parliamentary endorsements. Yoon has made a bolstered military alliance with the U.S. the heart of his foreign policy, while pushing to expand trilateral Seoul-Washington-Tokyo cooperation to cope with North Korean nuclear threats and other challenges.

Yoon also Thursday criticized North Korea’s alleged arms exports to Russia to fuel its warfighting in Ukraine and maintained that Seoul will stick to its principle of providing only non-lethal support to Ukraine.

“We have a very clear policy that we do not provide lethal, offensive weapons to any side” in active conflict, Yoon said.

Since the start of the war, South Korea has sold artillery rounds to the United States, saying that the rounds were meant to backfill depleted U.S. stocks. The country also signed several arms deals with European powers eager to bolster their defenses in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“North Korea’s export of these weapons is not only an illicit activity to support the war in Ukraine, but also a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions over the North Korean nuclear issue,” Yoon said. “So, we are taking necessary actions in coordination with the U.N. and international community.”

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a press conference marking his second year in office at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Song Kyung-seok/Pool Photo via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a press conference marking his second year in office at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Song Kyung-seok/Pool Photo via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a press conference marking his second year in office at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Song Kyung-seok/Pool Photo via AP)

A TV screen shows the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's press conference, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 9, 2024. South Korea’s president on Thursday dismissed calls for independent investigations into allegations involving his wife and top officials, a move expected to draw strong rebukes from his rivals. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's press conference, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 9, 2024. South Korea’s president on Thursday dismissed calls for independent investigations into allegations involving his wife and top officials, a move expected to draw strong rebukes from his rivals. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's press conference, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

People watch a TV screen showing the live broadcast of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's press conference, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

BALTIMORE (AP) — Even without a Triple Crown on the line, the upcoming Belmont Stakes is one of the most anticipated horse races in the sport's history.

That's because it's being run at Saratoga Race Course for the first time, part of a two-year hiatus in upstate New York while the Belmont's longstanding home in New York City is torn down and rebuilt.

“When you’re in sports, you get to do these unique things, and having a Belmont up in Saratoga, that’s pretty unique for us,” New York Racing Association President and CEO David O'Rourke said. “Everyone up there has leaned so far into this event that it’s just really cool. It’s hard to put a word to the level of excitement up there except the fact that everyone’s all in.”

Probably including Preakness champion Seize the Grey, who ended Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan's Triple Crown bid with a wire-to-wire victory Saturday. His 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, said it was likely Seize the Grey would go.

He would not be alone, considering the historic nature of the Belmont at Saratoga, and also that it's being reduced to 1 1/4 miles from the usual “test of the champion” 1 1/2-mile distance because of the circumference of the track. At that distance, the race would have started on a turn, so the decision was made to shorten it, which could entice more owners and trainers to let their horses run.

“It’s a whole different deal,” Lukas said. "We’ll get new faces. There are some guys sitting in the wings. I’m sure that Todd (Pletcher) and Chad (Brown), with the depth they’ve got in their stables, will be involved. The fact that it’s a mile and a quarter, I think it makes it more enticing.”

Two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert also approves of the move away from a longer distance not typically run by 3-year-olds or even many older horses.

“You really don’t want to send a horse a mile and a half,” Baffert said. “They only do it one time in their life. ... A mile and a quarter, it’ll be fine.”

O'Rourke said the race will revert to 1 1/2 miles when it returns to the new version of Belmont Park in 2026. Given how much Lukas talks about his next crop of horses, he undoubtedly will show interest in yearlings born in 2023 for the Belmont's downstate return.

For now, the question is how much the final leg of the Triple Crown will be a rematch of sorts from the Derby or Preakness. Brown-trained Sierra Leone, who finished second by a nose at Churchill Downs on May 4, could run and so could Mystik Dan.

Trainer Kenny McPeek is shipping the Derby winner and Preakness runner-up to Saratoga but will wait a week to 10 days to make a decision. Baffert on Friday seemed to rule out the Belmont for Muth because the Preakness morning-line favorite got sick upon arriving in Baltimore and probably would not be able to heal in time to train for the June 8 race.

There will not be any shortage of interest in taking part of the Belmont at Saratoga, which has been around since 1863 and is one of the most venerable venues in horse racing. The field won't match the Derby's 20 horses but will almost certainly be bigger than the eight in the Preakness.

“The Belmont field, it’s sort of erratic, and it depends on a lot of other factors,” O'Rourke said. “I think it’s going to be an exceptionally deep field. It will be a big field, but it’ll be exceptionally deep is my projection at this point in time.”

AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing

Seize The Grey's trainer D. Wayne Lukas, left, shakes hands with with Bob Baffert, Imagination's trainer, after Lukas' horse won the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Jaime Torres, atop Seize The Grey, reacts after crossing the finish line to win the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Jaime Torres, left, atop Seize The Grey, crosses the finish line with Flavien Prat, atop Catching Freedom, in tow while winning the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Jaime Torres kisses Seize The Grey after they won the Preakness Stakes horse race at Pimlico Race Course, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)