hankyoreh

The presidential residence, in Seoul’s Hannam neighborhood. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

Baek Jae-gwon, an adjunct professor at the Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and a feng shui specialist, is also a practitioner of physiognomy, which analyzes a person’s facial characteristics to judge their character or fate. Baek also happens to have visited the official residence of the chief of staff of the Republic of Korea Army last year while President Yoon Suk-yeol was in the process of moving the presidential residence out of the Blue House.

Baek has judged Yoon’s face as “a countenance that’s necessary in turbulent times.” He has also asserted that the feng shui of the geography surrounding the Blue House is inauspicious, which is why Park Geun-hye and other former presidents have been arrested. He has used similar logic to demand the relocation of the N Seoul Tower, located on Mount Nam.

After researching Baek’s media columns on July 21, the Hankyoreh discovered that, since 2019, Baek has repeatedly referred to Yoon as a “crocodile countenance,” claiming that “today’s times call for the crocodile.” Baek wrote a series of columns for the Korea Joongang Daily on feng shui and physiognomy. In a June 2019 column, Baek wrote that Yoon, then the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, was an “apt candidate [for Prosecutor General] based on his physiognomy,” adding that “despite his crude appearance, Yoon Suk-yeol is intelligent, with a rational mind that befits his crocodile countenance, making him immune to clumsy tactics.”

“If the Moon Jae-in administration takes advantage of this crocodile, it will maintain the momentum of its governance and gain a buttress in its policy pursuits,” Baek writes. “Yoon has the countenance that the current era demands. The world is calling for the crocodile.”

The presidential residence, in Seoul’s Hannam neighborhood. (Kim Hye-yun/The Hankyoreh)

In March 2021, when Yoon had entered the conversation for presidential candidates, Baek wrote, “In turbulent times, when the waters are murky, this is the kind of face we need.” In an article titled, “10 Presidential Potentials from a Physiognomic Perspective,” published in J Magazine, the Joongang Daily’s monthly publication, Baek wrote once again that Yoon had “a crocodile countenance, the likes of which I’ve never seen.”

“While countenances resembling the tiger, the cat, and the eagle are common in politics, the crocodile is extremely rare. If he [Yoon] makes it to the presidential race, his offensive power will be the strongest among the candidates. He could change the entire game.”

Baek has also asserted that the geography of the Blue House is inauspicious, which is a key factor behind numerous former presidents being arrested or prosecuted. In a 2017 Joongang Daily column on feng shui and physiognomy, Baek wrote, “Former President Park Geun-hye was arrested on March 31, 2017. She is the third Korean president to be arrested, after Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan. Elements of feng shui comprise one of the many factors behind this pattern.”

“The steel tower of Mount Nam [N Seoul Tower] causes many problems. The resident of the Blue House becomes the main victim of its misfortunes. This is because the pointed top of the tower exudes a murderous wrath,” Baek added.

“Once its ominous energy accumulates to a certain point, it’s difficult for anyone to endure or avoid. Simply moving the tower would be enough to avert Korea’s presidential misfortune.”

In a recent column published in Woman Economy, an online outlet, Baek praised Yoon’s decision to move the presidential office as a “historical resolution.”

“The Blue House was a symbol of isolation and a lack of communication, but since Yoon moved the presidential office to Yongsan, we can already see the positive effects of the chi that’s been released after being clogged for so long,” Baek wrote.

“When led by a president with good fortune and an auspicious physiognomy, Korea’s national fortune also improves. The beneficiaries of such good fortune are none other than the Korean people.”

After confirming that Baek visited the office of the chief of staff of the Republic of Korea Army in March 2022, the cybercrimes unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is looking into the situation as part of its ongoing investigation into alleged libel. Police believe that Baek was accompanied by People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Han-hong, who was heading the task force for moving the presidential office to Yongsan, and Kim Yong-hyeon, the chief of the Presidential Security Service.

Police were looking through CCTV footage of the chief of staff’s official residence in March 2022 while investigating allegations that Cheongong, a self-proclaimed monk of divination, was involved in the process of selecting the location of Yoon’s new presidential office. They then discovered footage showing Baek visiting the premises.

By Ko Byung-chan, staff reporter

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