South Korea's president denies wrongdoing in a growing scandal

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol denied wrongdoing on Thursday in a burgeoning influence-peddling scandal involving him and his wife that is severely hurting his approval ratings and providing political munition to his rivals.

The political firestorm coincides with South Korea facing a slew of critical foreign policy issues, such as Donald Trump’s election win to become the next president of the United States and North Korea’s reported entry into the Russia-Ukraine war.

The scandal centers around allegations that Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee exerted inappropriate influence on the conservative ruling People Power Party to pick a certain candidate to run for a parliamentary by-election in 2022 at the request of Myung Tae-kyun, an election broker and founder of a polling agency who conducted free opinion surveys for Yoon before he became president.

For weeks, the scandal has been making headlines in South Korea as Myung's leaked phone conversations show he boasted of his influence over the presidential couple and other top ruling party officials.

Asked about his ties with Myung during a news conference Thursday, Yoon said, “I didn’t do anything inappropriate and have nothing to hide regarding Myung Tae-kyun.”

Yoon said he has never meddled in any candidate nomination process at the PPP, and had never asked Myung to carry out surveys for him, though he acknowledged that Myung gave him some sort of help during his presidential primary campaign in 2021.

The main liberal opposition Democratic Party said Yoon's response only showed his “arrogance" and “self-righteousness." The party earlier demanded Yoon apologize, reshuffle top officials and accept an independent investigation into his wife.

The Democratic Party recently shared what it said was an audio file of phone calls between Yoon and Myung on May 9, 2022 — a day before Yoon took office for a single five-year term. The opposition party alleges that the conversation proves Yoon provided Myung with political favors in return for free surveys.

In the audio file, Yoon can be heard telling Myung that he asked a PPP committee to pick senior party member Kim Young-sun to run for one of the parliamentary by-elections the following month. Kim Young-sun eventually obtained the party’s nomination and won the election.

In the file, Myung is heard saying, “I really won’t forget this favor for my entire life. Thank you!”

South Korea’s election law bars public servants, including the president, from interfering in elections, but applies no such restrictions to a president-elect, so it's unclear whether Yoon violated the law.

Recent surveys showed Yoon's approval rating has fallen below 20% for the first time since his inauguration. Kim Keon Hee has been grappling with other scandals, such as spy camera footage purportedly showing her accepting a luxury bag as a gift from a pastor.

Yoon apologized for causing public concerns about him and his wife, but stressed that many of the allegations raised were not consistent with the facts.

Some ruling party lawmakers have accused the Democratic Party of deliberately ramping up political attacks on Yoon and his wife in an effort to rescue its embattled leader, Lee Jae-myung, from legal troubles.

Lee, a firebrand lawmaker who narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election, is undergoing four separate trials over corruption and various other allegations. The first two district court rulings on Lee over his election law violation and perjury charges are set for Nov. 15 and Nov. 25.

Either a prison sentence or a fine of more than 1 million won ($750) in the election law case would unseat Lee as a lawmaker and disqualify him from running in elections for five years, although he is likely to appeal any guilty verdict.

Surveys show Lee is the early favorite for the 2027 presidential race to succeed Yoon.

On foreign policy, Yoon — who has worked closely with Washington and Tokyo to solidify security cooperation in the face of North Korean threats — expressed optimism that the three-way partnership will continue to expand under Trump’s government. He said he wants to meet Trump and new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba soon to coordinate policies.

During his previous presidency, Trump engaged in highly orchestrated nuclear summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Yoon noted that North Korea’s arsenal has significantly advanced since Trump’s diplomacy with Kim collapsed in 2019.

Yoon said Trump “will be receiving comprehensive reports very soon about how North Korea’s nuclear technologies and capabilities have changed since then."

“After he receives these reports, I think we can have more meaningful and in-depth discussions when we have the opportunity to meet," Yoon said.

When asked about concerns that Trump’s “America first” approach would damage South Korean interests in trade through increased tariffs and other measures, Yoon said Seoul was making “multifaceted efforts to minimize the losses to our people’s economy.”

“Things can’t be exactly the same as they were during the Biden administration,” he said, “but we have been preparing to hedge these risks for a long time."

Earlier Thursday, Yoon had a telephone call with Trump, congratulating him on his election win and discussing strengthening bilateral cooperation. The two agreed to arrange an in-person meeting soon, according to Yoon’s office.

Prospects for South Korea-U.S. relations under Trump “could depend on whether Yoon is able to strike up positive chemistry with Trump immediately during the transition and foster a close personal friendship to convince him to want to support and advance Seoul’s interests,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

“This might be the only way to avert devastating consequences and surprises in the alliance relationship — including South Korean questions about Washington’s defense commitment — that we currently assume would happen based on Trump’s harsh rhetoric against allies and transactional style,” she said.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol answers a reporters' question during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives for a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol answers a reporters' question during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol answers a reporters' question during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol answers a reporters' question during a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul, South Korea Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Kim Hong-Ji/Pool Photo via AP)

LUCERNE, Switzerland (AP) — Would you trust an “AI Jesus” with your innermost thoughts and troubles?

Researchers and religious leaders on Wednesday released findings from a two-month experiment through art in a Catholic chapel in Switzerland, where an avatar of “Jesus” on a computer screen — tucked into a confessional — took questions by visitors on faith, morality and modern-day woes, and offered responses based on Scripture.

The idea, said the chapel’s theological assistant, was to recognize the growing importance of artificial intelligence in human lives, even when it comes to religion, and explore the limits of human trust in a machine.

After the two-month run of the “Deus in Machina” exhibit at Peter’s Chapel starting in late August, some 900 conversations from visitors – some came more than once – were transcribed anonymously. Those behind the project said it was largely a success: Visitors often came out moved or deep in thought, and found it easy to use.

A small sign invited visitors to enter a confessional – chosen for its intimacy – and below a lattice screen across which penitent believers would usually speak with a priest, a green light signaled the visitor's turn to speak, and a red one came on when “AI Jesus” on a computer screen on the other side was responding.

Often, a lag time was needed to wait for the response – a testament to the technical complexities. After exiting, nearly 300 visitors filled out questionnaires that informed the report released Wednesday.

Philipp Haslbauer, an IT specialist at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts who pulled together the technical side of the project, said the AI responsible for taking the role of “AI Jesus” and generating responses was GPT4o by OpenAI, and an open-source version of the company’s Whisper was used for speech comprehension.

The Interactive Avatar from Heygen was used to produce voice and video from a real person, he said. Haslbauer said no specific safeguards were used “because we observed GPT4o to respond fairly well to controversial topics.”

Visitors broached many topics, including true love, the afterlife, feelings of solitude, war and suffering in the world, the existence of God, plus issues like sexual abuse cases in the Catholic Church or its position on homosexuality.

Most visitors described themselves as Christians, though agnostics, atheists, Muslims, Buddhists and Taoists took part too, according to a recap of the project released by the Catholic parish of Lucerne.

About one-third were German speakers, but “AI Jesus” — which is conversant in about 100 languages — also had conversations in languages like Chinese, English, French, Hungarian, Italian, Russian and Spanish.

“What was really interesting (was) to see that the people really talked with him in a serious way. They didn’t come to make jokes,” said chapel theologian Marco Schmid, who spearheaded the project. Most visitors were aged 40 to 70, and more Catholics respondents found the experience stimulating than did Protestants, the report showed.

Schmid was quick to point out that the “AI Jesus” – billed as a “Jesus-like” persona – was an artistic experiment to get people thinking about the intersection between the digital and the divine, not substitute for human interaction or sacramental confessions with a priest, nor was it intended to save pastoral resources.

The Catholic Church from the Vatican on down has been wrestling with the challenges – and possible opportunities – presented by the explosion in public interest in AI since generative artificial intelligence captured the world’s attention two years ago when ChatGPT made its debut.

The Vatican has appointed a friar from a medieval Franciscan order as its top expert on AI, and a Lutheran church in Bavaria served up sermons delivered by a chatbot last year. Pope Francis, in his annual peace message for this year, pushed for an international treaty to ensure the ethical use of AI technology.

Haslbauer acknowledged his own sort of Doubting Thomas moment: He’s sensitive to public reaction and has noted chatter on social media that the project is “blasphemous” or the “work of the devil.”

“If you read comments on the internet about it, some are very negative — which is scary,” Haslbauer, whose long-haired look featured as a basis for the image of the virtual Jesus.

In a demonstration of the technology in the chapel, Haslbauer queried AI Jesus about its message for a troubled world, and about whether AI could be helpful as a way for people to find God.

“All knowledge and wisdom ultimately come from God," the chatbot said in a soothing voice, after a pause to respond, and the image briefly crackled. “If used wisely, AI can indeed be a tool to explore the wonders of creation, deepen our understanding of Scripture, and foster connections among people.”

"Yet it remains essential to seek God with all your heart and soul beyond any technology,” it added.

Kenneth Cukier, a journalist, author and expert with the U.S.-based nonprofit group called “AI and Faith,” said if “AI Jesus” helps people connect deeper to themselves and the world, it “has to be a good thing.”

“It will lead to better individuals and a better world,” he said. “However — and there’s a big however — this does feel a little bit infantile, and pardon my pun, machine-like.”

“The risk is that it pulls people, ultimately, farther away from that which is more meaningful, deeper and authentic in spirituality,” said Cukier, co-author of “Big Data: A Revolution that Will Transform How We Work, Live and Think.”

For Schmid, the exhibit was a pilot project — and he doesn't foresee a second coming of AI Jesus anytime soon.

“For us, it was also clear it was just a limited time that we will expose this Jesus," he said, adding that any return would need to be done after deeper thought.

“We are discussing ... how we could revive him again," he said, noting interest from parishes, schoolteachers, researchers and others as the project got media attention in Switzerland and beyond. “They all are interested and would like to have this AI Jesus. So we have now a little bit to reflect on how we want to continue."

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

An experimental art installation with an AI Jesus entitled, Deus in Machina, installed in a confessional in St. Peter's Chapel in the old town of Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)

An experimental art installation with an AI Jesus entitled, Deus in Machina, installed in a confessional in St. Peter's Chapel in the old town of Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)

An experimental art installation with an AI Jesus entitled, Deus in Machina, installed in a confessional in St. Peter's Chapel in the old town of Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)

An experimental art installation with an AI Jesus entitled, Deus in Machina, installed in a confessional in St. Peter's Chapel in the old town of Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP)