Wife of DP candidate Lee apologizes for ethical lapses
![Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of the Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, apologizes for her alleged ethical lapses in a press conference on Wednesday. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2022/02/09/f71e7243-9bf7-45ad-aa53-f7301145ff5f.jpg)
Kim Hye-kyung, the wife of the Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, apologizes for her alleged ethical lapses in a press conference on Wednesday. [YONHAP]
Kim Hye-kyung, wife of the ruling party’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, on Wednesday apologized to the people for the controversy surrounding her alleged ethical lapses and abuse of power when her husband was serving as Gyeonggi governor.
Kim held a press conference Wednesday afternoon at the Democratic Party (DP) headquarters and read the statement. This comes after a former Gyeonggi government employee’s revelations that Kim had used civil servants from Lee’s office to run personal errands for her and used a credit card billing the provincial government for private expenses. The press conference was aired live by major TV networks.
“I apologize to the people once again for what happened due to my shortcomings,” Kim said. “As a spouse of a public official, I should have been careful about everything and should have drawn a clear line between official and personal matters, but I had many lapses. I offer my sincere apology to the people, particularly the whistleblower.”
This was her first press conference to address a series of allegations concerning her actions while her husband was serving as the governor of Gyeonggi. Late last month, a former civil servant at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government started making revelations that he had been wrongfully ordered to run errands for Kim. The whistleblower said a senior provincial government official in the general affairs division, surnamed Bae, instructed him to take care of Kim's personal business.
“I will do my best so that the truth will be laid bare through investigations and audits,” Kim said in the press conference. “Even after the presidential election, I will faithfully explain myself regarding the accusations and take full responsibility.”
The whistleblower claimed that he had spent “90 percent of the time” running petty errands for Kim. Some of the allegations include picking up medicine supposedly for Kim, though it was prescribed under another person’s name.
He also claimed that he helped with the governor's laundry.
The whistleblower also said he was instructed to use the government credit card to pay for Kim’s meals and to deliver them to the governor’s residence on multiple occasions.
Since 2016, the government has prohibited spouses of a local government heads from receiving support from civil servants for personal activities. Likewise, government credit cards are not to be used for personal expenses.
Lee and Kim each issued an apology last week, but it didn’t stop the scandal from snowballing, forcing her to hold a press conference to issue the apology again on Wednesday.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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