First lady's friend was with her in Spain

President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee disembark from Air Force One at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Friday, after their five-day trip to Madrid for a NATO summit. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Questions are being raised about a personal friend who accompanied President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee on their trip to Madrid last week.

Broadcaster MBC reported Monday that an individual surnamed Shin accompanied the presidential couple on the Spain trip, stayed at the same hotel and traveled on the presidential jet. Shin was reported to have helped first lady Kim, as she doesn't have a formal first lady's office.

Shin was later confirmed to be the wife of presidential secretary of personnel affairs Lee Won-mo, who is a longtime acquaintance of Kim and Yoon. She was reportedly a member of a 15-person team that visited Madrid early last month with officials from Yoon's presidential office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare for the Spain trip.

Shin returned to Spain as a part of an advance team, arriving five days earlier than the presidential entourage on June 27. She returned to Seoul with the first couple on the presidential jet last Friday.

Usually the first couple, aides, presidential staff, security and accredited journalists are part of a heavily screened presidential entourage that travels on Air Force One on such trips.

The presidential office said Shin "performed duties such as event planning for no remuneration."

Critics questioned the appropriateness of Shin's presence since she doesn't hold any official public position.

The presidential office on Wednesday stressed that Shin played a support role for arranging the overall schedule and "did not attend to or accompany Kim even once" on her activities during the trip.

A presidential official told reporters that Shin had gotten the approval of the foreign minister, who grants exceptions to rules when extra assistance is needed.

The official added that outsiders, if necessary, can work on such trips categorized as "other staff." Such examples include the attending physician and some interpreters.

Shin did not partake as the wife of a presidential secretary, said the official, but because of her "long overseas experience, fluency in English and aptitude for planning organizing international cooperation events."

She was said to have had a "long relationship with the president and his wife" and was thought to be able to "understand their intentions well."

As she did not receive pay, "there was no issue of preferential treatment or conflict of interest," said the official. However, her flights and accommodations were paid for.

Shin is reported to have studied abroad for 11 years. She reportedly was a former executive of an oriental medicine company.

Woo Sang-ho, interim chief of the Democratic Party said Wednesday that Kim bringing a personal acquaintance on a presidential trip "is a matter of national discipline that should be formally addressed by the National Assembly."

In turn, Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, floor leader of Yoon's People Power Party, told KBS radio that there is no problem with an outsider joining the presidential entourage, adding, "There is no law requiring only public officials perform the duties of the president's state affairs."

He noted that K-pop band BTS accompanied former President Moon Jae-in on overseas trips in the past.

BTS was appointed special presidential envoys for future generations and culture and took part in a session on sustainable development goals at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last September.

Kim has been surrounded by controversy since Yoon's campaign days.

Last December, she issued a public apology over allegations she falsified career credentials on her resume when applying for university jobs. After Yoon's election in March, she said she planned to assist her husband quietly from the sidelines.

But last month, Kim caught flak for bringing along an acquaintance on a trip to Bongha Village in South Gyeongsang on a trip to visit the widow of a former President Roh Moo-hyun, her first individual official activity since Yoon took office.

Amid rampant speculation about that woman's identity, with some alleging she was a shaman, the presidential office clarified that the woman in question was a university professor and a longtime acquaintance of the first lady.

In keeping with a campaign pledge, Yoon scrapped the office that would have been responsible for handling the first lady's schedule. However, the Bongha incident prompted discussions that Kim needs more formal support if she is to take on the role of first lady.

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