KIM Keon-hee, South Korea’s first lady, has become a lightning rod for controversy amid the chaos caused by her husband’s recent failed attempt to impose martial law, with scandals tied to her wealth and influence seen as a major factor in his political misfortunes.
There has also been widespread speculation that the impeached president Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law to protect Kim from investigations by the political Opposition.
However, Kim’s political scandals started long before her husband’s shocking decree on Dec 3 and his subsequent arrest.
A contentious figure
A slew of controversies surrounding Kim haunted Yoon even before he took office in May 2022. Left unaddressed, they became a major factor in Yoon’s dramatic fall from grace, as the president now awaits impeachment proceedings at the Constitutional Court.
These scandals have overshadowed much of Yoon’s policy agenda during his two-and-a-half years in office, contributing to his plummeting approval ratings. But the prosecutor-turned-president dismissed the allegations as “exaggerated claims” by his political opponents and said his wife had been excessively “demonised”.
However, these explanations failed to persuade the majority of the public, according to analysts.
“A major lapse in Yoon’s approach to the first lady’s issues stemmed from his mindset as a devoted husband, not a president. A true leader would have allowed the legal authorities to investigate the allegations surrounding their family, but Yoon was overly protective of his wife,” Lee Jae-mook, a politics professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, told the Korea Times.
“This was not received well by the public.”
Lee added that multiple polls have shown that Yoon’s tone-deaf response to the first lady’s scandals was one of the main reasons for his low approval ratings.
Before becoming the first lady, Kim was a businesswoman, heading an art event-planning company. She married Yoon in 2012, and while they have no children, they frequently share photos of their pet dogs and cats online.
An advocate for animal rights, Kim has worked to end dog meat consumption in South Korea. She has also been admired for her fashion choices and for breaking the mould of previous first ladies, who typically maintained low profiles.
However, Kim emerged as a contentious figure as early as Yoon’s campaign trail.
In 2021, the first lady apologised for exaggerating her academic credentials when applying for a professorship after the Education ministry found she had falsely claimed to hold a master’s degree in business administration from the prestigious Seoul National University.
Before Yoon’s election in 2022, the main Opposition Democratic Party accused Kim and her family of manipulating the stock price of an auto dealership.
In an apparent response to the scandals, Yoon abolished the presidential office tasked with managing the first lady’s schedule and activities. But critics argue that this move enabled Kim to influence state affairs without oversight.
The Dior bag
Perhaps the most infamous controversy Kim has faced revolves around her acceptance of a luxury gift – a US$2,200 (RM9,841) Dior handbag – allegedly breaching the country’s anti-corruption laws.
The incident was captured using a camera concealed in a watch by pastor Choi Jae-young, who presented the bag to Kim. The video ignited immense controversy online, recalling past “pay-to-play” scandals in the country, where people used their access to power for personal gain.
While some question if Opposition lawmakers are targeting Kim, analysts believe that is not the case.
“The scrutiny surrounding Kim has been intense, but I would not characterise it as unfair or disproportionate,” said Lee Young-Im, an associate professor of political science at California State University, Sacramento, who also noted that some scandals linked to Kim are “easily tied to an image of vanity”.
“This image was further amplified by public perception of her plastic surgery, cosmetic procedures, and preference for luxury goods and fashion, making her an easy target,” Lee added.
Natalia Slavney, a research analyst for the Korea Program at the US-based Stimson Centre, said it is common that politicians and their family members be “held to high standards” in South Korea.
“It may sometimes seem as though the Opposition party is actively looking for any way it can implicate Yoon, but I do not necessarily think the scrutiny is excessive,” she said.
A murky history
South Korea’s political landscape has long been marred by controversies and scandals involving presidents and their relatives, making the public more sensitive to the emergence of similar issues under Yoon, analysts say.
Many of the country’s former presidents have faced criminal investigations for alleged corruption and were ultimately imprisoned, according to Slavney.
Park Geun-hye, who served as president from 2013 until her impeachment in 2017, faced scrutiny similar to that of Yoon, as critics accused her of allowing a close friend to exert influence over state affairs behind the scenes. Ultimately, she was convicted on corruption charges.
Former president Roh Moo-hyun, who claimed that his 2003-2008 administration was South Korea’s cleanest, died by suicide after leaving office. At that time, his wife was under investigation for allegedly receiving money from a businessman facing tax evasion and insider trading charges to settle family debts.
What happens to Kim now?
On Dec 7, as her husband faced an impeachment motion, Kim too was implicated in a legislative Bill calling for a special counsel investigation into allegations against her, which include stock manipulation, election interference, and bribery. The Bill fell two votes short of passing.
This was not the first time Opposition parties had sought an investigation of Kim. However, three previous attempts were reportedly vetoed by Yoon, leading to accusations that the president had been unfairly using his position to protect his wife, say analysts.
In Yoon’s impeachment vote, lawmakers accused the president of attempting to “evade investigations into criminal allegations involving himself and his family”.
As such, it is not hard to imagine potential repercussions for Kim now that the president has been impeached and arrested.
“If [Yoon is] found guilty, public backlash could potentially influence the severity of her punishment, maybe to ‘make an example’ of her to hold her accountable for her actions,” said Slavney. – South China Morning Post/Agency
