She is the widow of the ninth president of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, who committed suicide on May 23, 2009.

[1] After Roh's term ended, Kwon was embroiled in a bribery scandal involving her husband.

According to Roh's website, Kwon borrowed $1 million from Park Yeon-Cha, CEO of Taekwang Industry, to repay a personal debt.

In November 2018, a woman falsely claiming to be Kwon Yang-sook convinced the mayor of Gwanju at the time, Yoon Jang-hyun, to transfer her 450 million won.

According to reports, the impostor claimed that she needed the requested money for her daughter and would pay it back hastily.