First lady catches flak for traveling with a friend

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First lady catches flak for traveling with a friend

First lady Kim Keon-hee, center, pays her respects at the grave of President Roh Moo-hyun in Bongha Village, Gimhae, in South Gyeongsang on Monday. She is accompanied by a woman, right, who was later identified as a professor and close acquaintance of Kim. [YONHAP]

First lady Kim Keon-hee, center, pays her respects at the grave of President Roh Moo-hyun in Bongha Village, Gimhae, in South Gyeongsang on Monday. She is accompanied by a woman, right, who was later identified as a professor and close acquaintance of Kim. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Wednesday came to the defense of his wife, Kim Keon-hee, who was criticized for bringing along a friend on a meeting with the widow of a former president earlier this week.  
 
On Monday, the first lady traveled to Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, to pay respects at the grave of former President Roh Moo-hyun and meet with his widow, Kwon Yang-sook, at her home.  
 
Photos and video of the visit showed that Kim was accompanied by an unidentified woman in black, sparking speculation that she was a shaman.
 
The woman arrived with Kim at Bongha Village in a minibus and stood directly behind the first lady as she paid respects at Roh’s grave. She didn’t accompany the first lady to her private one-on-one talks with Kwon.
 
The presidential office clarified in a statement Tuesday evening that the woman in question was a university professor and a longtime acquaintance of the first lady. It said that the other three people accompanying them were presidential staff.  
 
The acquaintance, identified as an adjunct professor at Chungnam National University surnamed Kim, was reported to be a former executive at Covana Contents, the art exhibit planning company founded and run by Kim Keon-hee.
 
A presidential office spokesperson confirmed Wednesday that two of the three presidential staff that accompanied Kim also previously worked for Covana Contents.  
 
Critics have said Kim should not have brought a friend on an official activity as first lady, and the liberal Democratic Party (DP) accused Kim of being unable to distinguish private and public affairs.  
 
In response to the controversy, Yoon told reporters at the Yongsan Presidential Office Wednesday morning, “The person in the photo is my wife’s longtime friend from Busan, whom I know as well.”  
 
Yoon said that the friend brought bread and other gifts that Kwon may like and was likely helping the first lady carry them.  
 
“Isn't Bongha Village somewhere any citizen can visit?" he asked.  
 
Yoon said that the visit to Bongha was initially supposed to be an undisclosed trip by his wife and admitted he was unsure how to differentiate her official and unofficial activities.  
 
He noted that Kim doesn’t have an official secretariat team and added, “It’s not like she can go around alone.” 
 
In keeping with a campaign pledge, Yoon scrapped the presidential office that would have been responsible for handling the first lady's schedule.  
 
“It’s my first time being president,” Yoon told reporters. “As the president's wife, there are some things that she has to do, and as I am also just starting out, I will think about how to manage this and listen to people's views and think about it little by little."
 
Members of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) said that Roh’s grave is a public site that anyone can visit and called the issue overblown by the DP.  
 
In a Facebook post Tuesday, PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok said the controversy was “nonsensical” and an attempt at “damaging the first lady's efforts toward national unity.”
 
He added, “Who made a law prohibiting personal acquaintances from accompanying [Kim Keon-hee] on a visit to first lady Kwon Yang-sook?”
 
Park Hong-keun, floor leader of the DP, said Wednesday, "The problem with Kim's public activities is that she has completely broken the promise to abolish the office of the first lady.”
 
He added that there are “issues being caused day after day by the lack of distinguishing private from public.”  
 
Park said that Kim’s visit to Bongha Village was an official activity, involving official presidential security and protocol. “Therefore, the qualifications of those in attendance should not be acquaintances or friends,” he said.
 
Until recently, Kim stayed out of public view. Last December, she issued a public apology over allegations she falsified her career credentials on her resume when applying for university jobs. After Yoon's election as president in March, she said she planned to assist her husband quietly from the sidelines.
 
Nonetheless, the first lady has also drawn fans and even has her own fan club, “Keon-hee Sarang” or “Love Keon-hee,” which has had its own controversies including over the release of private photos of Kim.  
 

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
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